| Summary: | This study describes aspects of critical care nurses'
experience of unsuccessful patient resuscitation. The study
was guided by the philosophical perspective of phenomenology
in the tradition of Benner (1984, 1994) and Benner and
Wrubel (1989) because of the intent to understand the
commonalities and differences of the experience. Critical
care nurses (CCNs) frequently care for patients who are
unsuccessfully resuscitated, however, there i s a lack of
research concerning this phenomenon. The purpose of this
study was to explore and describe the experience of CCNs who
participate in unsuccessful patient resuscitation. Data
were collected through twenty seven interviews with nine
participants who work in an urban tertiary critical care
area in one Canadian city. The paradigm case interview
focused on the participant's narrative account of an
unsuccessful patient resuscitation. The researcher sought
to understand the CCN's experience through hearing and
analyzing the paradigm case. The interviews were analyzed
using constant comparative analysis and substantive coding.
The theme of "knowing" was central to the participants'
accounts of unsuccessful patient resuscitation. Knowing
involved three themes: knowing the case, knowing the
patient, and knowing the person. Each of the critical care
nurses began to know the individual through "knowing the
case". Knowing the case was significant as i t allowed the
participants to care competently and confidently for the
case as they developed a relationship with the patient.
"Knowing the patient" involves a relationship characterized
by professional concern and responsibility , between the
critical care nurse, the patient, and the patient's
significant others. The nurse's understanding of the
patient allows her or him to identify and anticipate the
patient's instability and the unsuccessful resuscitation.
The nurses valued knowing the patient as a mechanism f o r
preparing themselves to be emotionally stable during and
after an unsuccessful patient resuscitation. "Knowing the
person" involved a strong connection between the patient and
nurse that created an emotional attachment to the patient
and his or her significant others. The critical care
nurses' involvement with the person and his or her
significant others was frequently painful as they
experienced the loss of a person they had come to know and
care for prior to the resuscitation effort. === Applied Science, Faculty of === Nursing, School of === Graduate
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