NuRsing aRea

Journal of Family Nursing, Vol. 11, No. 4, 371-387 (2005)
DOI: 10.1177/1074840705281781

Nursing Science and Chronic Illness: Articulating Suffering and Possibility in Family Life
Catherine A. Chesla, R.N., D.N.Sc., F.A.A.N.

University of California, San Francisco

Families living with a member who has a chronic illness vacillate between hope and despair, suffering and possibility. How this living "between" evolves in families and how family relations are affected has received insufficient attention. As nurses we can learn families’ experiences of suffering and situated possibility through family narratives about and reflections on the everyday. Articulating this experience in thick, alive, complex, and practical texts promises to enhance our understanding, our practice with families, and our own lived possibilities.

Key Words: chronic illness • family research • suffering • narrative • qualitative research

taken from: http://jfn.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/11/4/371