Being a clinical nurse consultant: a hermeneutic phenomenological reflection

This paper describes the lived experiences of clinical nurse consultants. The research approach was that of hermeneutic phenomenology, and the participants in the study were 10 clinical nurse consultants who work in a range of clinical specialty services in a large Sydney referral hospital. The paper provides a phenomenological account of two themes that emerged from the study: the experience of diversity, and the experience of working with people. The experience of diversity relates to the different clinical specialties in which nurse consultants are employed and to the diverse nature of the role. The experience of working with people requires that nurse consultants focus on particular disease symptoms while simultaneously caring for the whole person.