TITLE: The Lived Experience of Certified Nurse Assistants in Nursing Homes as Viewed Through a Feminist Theory Lens
PURPOSE The purpose of this research is to describe nursing home (NH) life through the eyes of certified nurse assistants (CNAs), including the meaning of their experiences of being present in the setting and making decisions in the care of elderly residents.
THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK Hermeneutic phenomenology is used as the philosophical basis this study. Modern phenomenology as explicated by Heidigger and Husserl attempts to reach the essence of “truth” and uncover temporal, spatial, corporeal, and relational dimensions of lived experience. Phenomenology moves past preconceptions to “the thing-itself” (Van Manen, 1990). Feminist theory provides a lens through which to view the lived experience and relationships within gender, class, and ethnicity conceptual foci.
SUBJECTS: Eligible participants will include CNAs working at a NH in Kansas who have been employed for at least 4 months. The beginning sample of 6 CNAs is projected: however, the final sample will be determined by the thickness and richness of the contextually-based data that reveal ethnicity, age, work, and life experiences that contribute to the phenomenological understanding of CNAs in NHs.
METHODS: Consistent with hermeneutic phenomenology, the methods of epoché, reduction, and the vocative will be employed to reveal the voices of CNAs in NHs.
Data will be collected though open-ended interviews and observation of participants interacting with others in the NH. NH documents such as policies, procedures, and brochures, will be reviewed for their relevancy to CNA’s experiences within the feminist frame.
ANTICIPATED METHOD OF ANALYSIS: The data will be transcribed and grouped into meaning units to develop textural description. All possible meanings will be explored among researchers and participants to construct the essence of CNAs’ experience in the NH.
Session #1223 - Graduate Student Poster Session
The 29th Annual MNRS Research Conference (April 1-4, 2005)