"Being in Between": Nurses' Experiences When Caring for Individuals With Dementia and Encountering Family Caregivers'...

The focus of the current study was to explore nursing home staff's understanding and how they approach family caregivers' existential life situations when caring for individuals with dementia. A qualitative interview study was conducted with 20 nursing staff in two nursing homes in northern Sweden. Face-to-face interviews were analyzed using interpretive content analysis. One overarching theme with three themes and nine subthemes comprised the findings. The themes describe how nursing staff were "in between" when they cared for individuals with dementia and encountered family caregivers' existential life situations. Nurses acted as advocates and safeguarded family caregivers via dialogues and interactions. Nurses were supporters and by "being in between" they eased family caregivers' feelings of powerlessness in relation to dying and death. "Being in between" may give nurses a deeper understanding of family caregivers' existential needs, thus increasing family caregivers' well-being. [Res Gerontol Nurs. 2019; 12(2):91-98.].