Mindfulness - det oppmerksomme nærvær

Abstract

Background: The ability to be truly present is a core element in the nursing profession.Training mindfulness could be a method to develop this ability.Purpose: The aim of this study was to investigate how nurses experience the phenomenon of being present in their nursing, and how mindfulness training as MBRS (Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction) would influence their experience.Method: An MBSR program was given to six nurses in a university hospital followed by in-depth interviews, which were analyzed by a phenomenological-hermeneutical method.Results: The nurses' experience of being present can be told by two main themes.«Being close»; a recognition of common human conditions in relations.«Balancing in presence»; closeness depends on balancing the one patient against the others and other tasks, and between closeness and a professional distance.After the mindfulness training, their experience of being present is described by three main themes.«Standing in the open»; the mindful attitude's openness influences the quality of relations by creating trust.«Seeing»; a new way of seeing, both more clearly and more pleasantly.«Being»; a gradual change from doing to being which involves self-awareness and a calming presence.Conclusion: From being a relational phenomenon expressed by being close to someone, the mindfulness training leads to an experience of presence that indicates a development of the nurses' competence in the direction of the theoretic descriptions of both Rosemarie Rizzo Parse's «true presence» and Kari Martinsen's «the championship in seeing with the eye of the heart».Mindfulness training could thus constitute an improvement of nursing skills.