| The purpose of this study was to describe the meaning of the lived experience of facing personal mortality in Mexican-American women with Stage IV breast cancer. The concurrent use of Phenomenology and Narrative theory provided the conceptual underpinning for this qualitative study. Narratives of facing personal mortality were explored among nine women diagnosed with Stage IV breast cancer. Each of the women was interviewed for 1 to 1½ hours at a location of their choice, and participant observation supplemented the interview data.; Nine richly textured narratives revealed the women's experience of facing personal mortality within the context of living with breast cancer. They also provided a detailed description of each of the participants as person, their experience with breast cancer and with facing personal mortality. A second analysis of the narratives provided an infra-group comparison of facing personal mortality, and three major categories emerged from the narratives.; The findings indicate that facing personal mortality, at its most rudimentary understanding, is a subjective and lived experienced. The individual's life intersects at their facing personal mortality experience. The individual's past, present, and future influence the experience of facing personal mortality and how it is manifested and worked through. The most important influences in the participants' life were the love of spouses, children, grandchildren, faith and trust in God, doing their part, and having the will to go on. As nurses, we have the opportunity to have an effect on that intersection as well. These women would benefit from the knowledge and skills of the nurse who is sensitive to their existential concerns, wants, and needs. Therefore, in order to be instrumental in the life of those facing personal mortality, we as nurses need to step up to the challenge and prepare ourselves with the knowledge and skills needed to care for those facing personal mortality. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)... |
