An interpretative study of the clinical practice of critical care nurses

This study explores the nature of clinical practice of eight expert nurses working in an intensive care unit. It is ontological and epistemologically grounded in Heideggerian phenomenological hermeneutics. This paper provides a description of the relevant Heideggerian concepts, in particular worldliness, understanding and care. The hermeneutic analysis revealed four themes: being busy, comforting, focusing and balancing. The paper concludes by discussing some ontological qualities, from a Heideggerian perspective, that underpin critical care nursing practice. This study contributes to the endeavour of exploring alternative ways of investigating human experience and also attempts to provide insight into the lifeworld of expert nurses working in an intensive care unit. The specific purpose of the study was to provide a phenomenological hermeneutic analysis of the aesthetics of nursing practice in an intensive care unit. Consistent with the epistemology of phenomenological hermeneutic philosophy, I have chosen to use the first person in reporting these research findings (see Webb 1992 for further discussion).