Building a Nursing Relationship with Hospitalized Patients with Diabetic Foot -Focusing on the Embodiment-

Abstract

The aim of this study is to describe how the relationship with patients is built in terms of the experiences of nurses who provided care to hospitalized patients with diabetic foot, focusing on the embodiment. Unstructured interviews were conducted with nurses experienced in caring for patients with diabetic foot. The relationship of two participants with their patients was described in the framework of phenomenology.

Participant A understood patients' pain and their living situation through body contact with them. In addition, by perceiving patients' diabetic foot or healthy limb, he grasped the meaning of these in context of the patients' past or current treatment as well as the medical system. Participant B understood the meaning of patients' distress and treatment through her body as she shared the patients' treatment. The relationship was built based on these experiences from body of nurses.

The relationship of patients with diabetic foot and nurses was found to be built responses from body. It was thought that this nurses spontaneously responded, which is different from thinking based on knowledge.