The Lived Experience of Registered Nurses Providing Care to Patients with Dementia in the Acute Care Setting: A Phenomenological Study

The phenomenon of interest for this study was the registered nurse’s (RN’s) lived experience of caring for patients with dementia in the acute care setting. Watson’s theory of human science and human care and van Manen’s hermeneutic phenomenological approach were used to guide this study. The strategies used for the generation and analysis of data were tape-recorded open-ended interviews, field notes, and the researchers’ audio-taped journal. Upon saturation, two themes and a synthesis of unity emerged across all participants. The implications for practice were clearly communicated by the RNs in this study. Further research is recommended.