Date of Award
12-2024
Document Type
Dissertation
Selected Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) Nursing
Department
Nursing
School
School of Nursing and Health Sciences
Abstract
Background:
Marginalized patient populations, such as people experiencing homelessness, receive a lower quality of care linked to stereotyping and biases (Alspach, 2018). Populations receiving substandard healthcare are often subconsciously identified by attributes such as age, race, mental health, housing, and social status (Padilla-Moledo et al., 2016). These stigmatized attributes can be the underpinning of bias. The health status of people experiencing homelessness is generally poorer than housed populations, with evidence demonstrating the difficulties they encounter when attempting access to healthcare (Klop et al., 2018).
Purpose:
The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore and gain a more in-depth understanding of the lived experience of nurses caring for people experiencing homelessness. This researcher intends to expand knowledge of this phenomenon and advance nursing knowledge in caring for this and other marginalized patient populations.
Method:
A qualitative phenomenological method using descriptive phenomenology was chosen to research the lived experience of nurses caring for people experiencing homelessness. This approach supports qualitative data analysis as it is concerned with authentically and objectively describing the participant’s own meaning of the phenomenon (Colaizzi, 2002). Findings: Data analysis revealed the emergence of five essential themes: anticipatory fear, ineffective nurse-patient relationship, reflective disgust, conflicted understanding, and intolerance.
Conclusion:
The meaning of the nurses’ lived experience caring for people experiencing homelessness showed that despite challenges, participants felt compassion, caring, and concern. Including the study findings on this phenomenon in nursing curricula at all levels will expand nursing knowledge in providing care to people experiencing homelessness and other marginalized patient populations. Expanding nursing knowledge may provide nurses with additional tools to connect, advocate, and better understand and meet this population's medical, social, and individual needs.
Related Pillar(s)
Study
Recommended Citation
Guerrini, Debra, "The Lived Experience of Nurses Caring for People Experiencing Homelessness: A Descriptive Phenomenological Study" (2024). Theses & Dissertations. 201.
https://digitalcommons.molloy.edu/etd/201
