"Make them your friend" : a phenomenological study of patients' experience soliciting nursing care in the hospital setting

The purpose of this study was to explore hospitalized patients' experience soliciting nursing care. To discover what patients were aware of when soliciting such care, without directing them to specific aspects pre-judged to be important, a phenomenological interview was used, following procedures outlined by Thomas and Pollio (2002). Eight participants ranging in age from 29 to 65 were interviewed and were included only if they had one or more experiences soliciting nursing care in the hospital, were open and willing to talk about their experience, and were at least 21 years of age. Nondirective, in-depth phenomenological interviews were conducted, transcribed verbatim, and analyzed for themes. Hermeneutic analysis of the interview texts resulted in the following three themes: "make them your friend," "be an easy patient," and "try to get them to listen." Hospitalized patients solicit nursing care by strategically building relationships. These relationships were formed in order to get nurses to remember them, hoping the nurses would be more responsive to their needs if they "stood out from the crowd." Patients used such strategies such as using nurses' names, being likeable, making them laugh, taking an interest in them, and making them feel liked. Some patients also reported having a sincere desire for establishing a genuine relationship with their nurses. Patients avoided "bothering" or "burdening" nurses in their effort to be an easier patient and often reported making multiple attempts, often unsuccessfully, to get nurses to listen to them. Participants tried to get nurses to listen to them by asking for what they wanted and my asking questions. If these strategies did not result in getting nurses to listen, participants escalated their tactics.