B R Jeffers1. 1. Mennonite College of Nursing, Bloomington, IL, USA.
Abstract
PURPOSE: To explore the experiences, thoughts, and feelings of surrogates making decisions for older adults. To identify nursing practices perceived as helpful to surrogates. SAMPLE: Eleven surrogate decision-makers. METHOD: Qualitative. Semi-structured interviews/descriptive data used to enrich a larger study. FINDINGS: Four main themes were identified that described the surrogates' experiences: Contextualizing the decision Actualizing agency Reviewing and resolving Transcending CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS: Three paradigm cases describe caregiving, protecting, and trusting response patterns of surrogates. Surrogates found decision-making an evolving and difficult process. Nurses can be more helpful to surrogates by giving them more opportunities to ask questions, solicit information, express emotions and obtain comfort and support.
PURPOSE: To explore the experiences, thoughts, and feelings of surrogates making decisions for older adults. To identify nursing practices perceived as helpful to surrogates. SAMPLE: Eleven surrogate decision-makers. METHOD: Qualitative. Semi-structured interviews/descriptive data used to enrich a larger study. FINDINGS: Four main themes were identified that described the surrogates' experiences: Contextualizing the decision Actualizing agency Reviewing and resolving Transcending CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS: Three paradigm cases describe caregiving, protecting, and trusting response patterns of surrogates. Surrogates found decision-making an evolving and difficult process. Nurses can be more helpful to surrogates by giving them more opportunities to ask questions, solicit information, express emotions and obtain comfort and support.