AIMS AND OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to illuminate nurses' experiences of consolation and how these experiences relate to suffering and care. BACKGROUND: Consolation is commonly associated with the relief of suffering. The question of consolation in terms of its definition and relevance for care has, however, been a matter of discussion among nurse researchers. The question raised concerns about the nature of consolation, its place and its role in relation to care and the caring sciences. DESIGN: An explorative qualitative interview study with 12 participants, six registered and six enrolled nurses, was carried out in a home-care context. METHODS: A phenomenological-hermeneutic method inspired by the French philosopher Paul Ricoeur was used for the text analysis. Results. Two main aspects of consolation appeared: 'the present consolation', which is flexible, sustaining and opening and 'the absent consolation', which conceals the suffering and is incapable of consoling. The result was interpreted from a philosophical-ethical perspective, based on the works of Levinas and Lögstrup. CONCLUSIONS: Consolation appears as a complex phenomenon, both in terms of its existence and its absence consolation, constituting a caring and non-caring consolation. A caring consolation entails meeting the other as different and being present in a way that gives the other space to be the one he or she really is. It requires acceptance, accepting the sufferer and his/her way of suffering as unique. Relevance to clinical practice. The clinical nurse is involved in complex care situations, which entails both reflecting upon and using intuition when consoling. A caring consolation is a contradictory phenomenon that requires a nurse to be capable of both reflecting upon and acting intuitively on the unique suffering of the other.
AIMS AND OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to illuminate nurses' experiences of consolation and how these experiences relate to suffering and care. BACKGROUND: Consolation is commonly associated with the relief of suffering. The question of consolation in terms of its definition and relevance for care has, however, been a matter of discussion among nurse researchers. The question raised concerns about the nature of consolation, its place and its role in relation to care and the caring sciences. DESIGN: An explorative qualitative interview study with 12 participants, six registered and six enrolled nurses, was carried out in a home-care context. METHODS: A phenomenological-hermeneutic method inspired by the French philosopher Paul Ricoeur was used for the text analysis. Results. Two main aspects of consolation appeared: 'the present consolation', which is flexible, sustaining and opening and 'the absent consolation', which conceals the suffering and is incapable of consoling. The result was interpreted from a philosophical-ethical perspective, based on the works of Levinas and Lögstrup. CONCLUSIONS: Consolation appears as a complex phenomenon, both in terms of its existence and its absence consolation, constituting a caring and non-caring consolation. A caring consolation entails meeting the other as different and being present in a way that gives the other space to be the one he or she really is. It requires acceptance, accepting the sufferer and his/her way of suffering as unique. Relevance to clinical practice. The clinical nurse is involved in complex care situations, which entails both reflecting upon and using intuition when consoling. A caring consolation is a contradictory phenomenon that requires a nurse to be capable of both reflecting upon and acting intuitively on the unique suffering of the other.