Nurses' construction of clinical situations: a study conducted in an acute-care setting in Norway

The purpose of this study was to describe the nature of clinical constructions that nurses make in their practice. The study was based on a qualitative descriptive design in an acute-care setting in Norway with a convenience sample of 6 registered nurses providing direct patient care. These nurses were considered typical staff nurses working in acute-care settings. Data were collected through observation of and in-depth interviews with participants during 3 full shifts for each nurse and also from nursing documents regarding the patients. Qualitative data analyses were carried out using a method that coalesces analyses of the parts with analysis of the whole. The findings revealed that nurses encounter patients and provide direct care by formulating pictures of encountered clinical situations with a specific way of "seeing," which the authors conceptualize as a comprehensive nursing gaze. This nursing gaze was the basis upon which the nurses arrived at clinical constructions. There is a need for further research to investigate how nurses differentiate the significance of information in arriving at clinical constructions, and to investigate aspects of the nursing gaze in various clinical settings.