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conferenceseries
.com
Volume 6, Issue 4 (Suppl)
J Nurs Care, an open access journal
ISSN: 2167-1168
World Nursing 2017
July 10-12, 2017
23
rd
World Nursing and Healthcare Conference
July 10-12, 2017 Berlin, Germany
Existential struggle in a life with incurable esophageal cancer
Malene Missel
Copenhagen University Hospital, Denmark
T
his study explores how patients diagnosed with incurable oesophageal cancer experience living with the illness, and provides
insight into and an understanding of the patients’ situation, reality and phenomena in their life world. The method takes a
phenomenological-hermeneutic approach, inspired by the French philosopher Paul Ricoeur’s narrative theory on mimesis as the
structure and process of the method, and Ricoeur’s theory of interpretation for the analysis of patient stories. The stories materialise
from narrative interviews, and the phenomena of the patients’ life world results in an analysis of these stories.Through the analysis of
the narrative interviews, phenomena of the patients’ life world appear which are described in themes such as debut of the illness, denial,
the person’s own suspicion, existential turning point, despair, hope, the body, affirmation of irrevocable illness, acknowledgement of
dying, life phenomena, relations and feeling of independence. The understanding of the patients’ experiences is augmented and
improved through a discussion of the themes in a philosophical perspective, drawing upon theoretical and philosophical viewpoints
of Kierkegaard, Løgstrup, Merleau-Ponty, Ricoeur, Benner & Wrubel, and on empirical research. Based on the phenomena in the ill
person’s life world brought about by analysis, it seems that incurably ill oesophageal cancer patients find themselves in a complex life
situation, in which they need more than an objective estimate and fulfilment of need from hospital service. Our study illustrates some
perspectives on the life situation of the incurably ill, which will contribute to the improved development of supportive care in nursing.
Biography
Malene Missel has a Master in Nursing and has completed her PhD in March 2016 from faculty of health and medical sciences, Copenhagen University Denmark.
She is working as a clinical nurse specialist at the department of thoracic surgery in the palliative care of patients with esophageal cancer.
Malene Missel, J Nurs Care 2017, 6:4(Suppl)
DOI: 10.4172/2167-1168-C1-049