Suffering While Resigning to an Unacceptable Violation of Dignity

Trude Anita Hartviksen*, Jessica Aspfors, Lisbeth Uhrenfeldt

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleScientificpeer-review

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Abstract

Background
The interaction of health personnel with relatives is linked to the quality of care results in nursing homes. However, there is limited knowledge of how relatives perceive being an integral part of the nursing home context. This secondary analysis has its starting point in an ethical concern about relatives’ experiences in a previous study.

Aim
To critically discuss relatives’ experiences of suffering when their next of kin live in a nursing home in a rural arctic context.

Research Design, Participants and Context
The critical hermeneutic stance is informed by Habermas. The secondary analysis is conducted on original data from five semi-structured focus groups with 18 relatives of residents of two nursing homes in a rural part of Norway. The theoretical framework concerning dignity, well-being, and suffering, as developed by Galvin and Todres, contrasts the analysis.

Ethical Considerations
The study followed the principles of the Helsinki Declaration. It was approved by the Norwegian Center for Research Data (NSD) (reg. no. 993360).

Findings
The main theme of this study is: suffering while resigning to an unacceptable violation of dignity. This theme is deepened by two subthemes: (a) suffering while adapting to a relationship of dependence and (b) suffering while accepting the unacceptable.

Conclusions
Relatives experience suffering as a cross-pressure in their struggle to interact responsibly with health personnel in nursing homes. This may have a negative outcome, where relatives end up adapting to being silent witnesses to missed care and a violation of dignity.
Original languageEnglish
Number of pages12
JournalNursing Ethics
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 22 Oct 2023
MoE publication typeA1 Journal article-refereed

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