Nurs Inq. 2019 Jul;26(3):e12290. doi: 10.1111/nin.12290. Epub 2019 Feb 28.

Explorations of disgust: A narrative inquiry into the experiences of nurses working in palliative care.

Nursing inquiry

Mara Kaiser, Helen Kohlen, Vera Caine

PMID: 30817063 DOI: 10.1111/nin.12290

Abstract

While feelings of disgust and repulsion are experienced and accepted as part of care practices of nurses who work in palliative care, they are often silenced. Working alongside two palliative care nurses in a hospice setting, we engaged in a narrative inquiry to inquire into their experiences of disgust. The study took place in a palliative care setting in a large urban city in Germany. We understand care practices as actions that follow a logic of care. According to a logic of care, actions are situated within a social context, given by specific relationships including power, and individual needs. Various aspects of disgust are visible in the experiences of the participants and highlighted in the narrative threads of disgust and silence, disgust and protection, and disgust and boundaries. Embedded in the experience of disgust of nurses working in palliative care, we see that there are borderlands of care that challenge who we are and are becoming. Opening discussion about disgust in nursing makes visible the complexity of care.

© 2019 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Keywords: death and dying; ethics; health services; narrative analysis; palliative care

MeSH terms

• Disgust*
• Humans
• Narration
• Nurse's Role / psychology
• Nurse-Patient Relations
• Nurses / psychology
• Palliative Care / psychology
• Palliative Care / standards
• Work-Life Balance

Publication Types

• Journal Article