Healing presence: Experiences and perceptions of cardiac intensive care patients concerning the nurse presence

Presence is an essential aspect of any nursing care situation and is provided by considering the overall needs of the patients and lead to their comfort and health. Heart disease is a stressful experience for many patients that are associated with unwanted fear that can create a lot of needs and tension. Nurse can recognize and solve the caring needs of patients through an effective presence. Therefore, this study was conducted aimed to explain the experiences and perceptions of cardiac intensive care patients concerning the nurse presence. This study was conducted with a qualitative, conventional content analysis approach. The participants were 15 cardiac patients which were selected through purposive sampling. Data collection was performed by unstructured interviews. Data collection continued until data saturation. Continuous analysis of data was performed simultaneously with data collection and through a comparative method. From data analysis three main themes emerged including "Patient's comfort with continuous monitoring of the nurse with the sub-themes; (ongoing watch, attention and follow-up the provided care); humanistic and responsibly relationship of the nurse with the sub-themes; (committed and respectful encounter of nurse, Patience and empathy), and understanding the nurse supporting with the sub-themes; (receiving the necessary information and education, and easy access to the nurse). The real presence of nurses is source of comfort and provides the patients needs. So it is recommended that the clinical nurses and managers with relying on these findings design the caring activities so that the nurses’ presence act as a facilitated factor in recovery process of patients.