“A becoming in the meeting”: the interpretations of competence in home care from the perspectives of older people and registered nurses – a meta-ethnography

ABSTRACT

Aim

The aim of this meta-ethnography was to identify and synthesize qualitative studies focusing on older people’s and registered nurses’ interpretations of competence in home care.

Methods

The meta-ethnography followed the six phases developed by Noblit and Hare (1988).

Results

In Phase 6, the translation process of the included studies, three themes were identified: i) temporality—the feeling of being of value; ii) dignity—a person, not just a patient; and iii) mutuality of being—togetherness. A synthesis was developed, and the phrase “a becoming in the meeting” emerged.

Conclusion

The sense of becoming includes progress, which means becoming something other than before in relation with others and refers to what constitutes the meeting between the older person and the registered nurse working in home care. Competence originates from becoming in the meeting, and registered nurses should therefore value what they do and hold on to this aspect of caring competence that centres on a caring relationship. It is important for registered nurses working in home care to be able to cultivate a caring relationship.

KEYWORDS:

• Competence
• care
• caring relationship
• dignity
• home care
• meta-ethnography
• older people
• registered nurses
• temporality
• togetherness

Acknowledgments

We would like to acknowledge the financial support provided by the European Commission.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Geolocation information

Denmark and Sweden

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme (MSCA-ITN-2018 under grant agreement number 813,928). The financial sponsor played no role in the design, execution or analysis of data, nor in the writing of this article.

Notes on contributors

Karoline Lang Mathiesen

Karoline Lang Mathiesen has a master’s degree in anthropology from Aarhus University in Denmark. Her research interest lies within the relations that surround human beings and especially what happens to those human relations when illness or potential death enters someone’s life.

Elisabeth Lindberg

Elisabeth Lindberg is professor of caring science at the University of Borås, Sweden. She is a nurse with a specialist education in intensive care and a master’s degree in nursing pedagogy. Her research interest is directed towards the human perspective in care and in the subject of caring science. She has a strong interest in developing the theories of caring science with support from caring science research and existential philosophy.

kristina Nässén

Kristina Nässén is a senior lecturer in caring science with a background in nursing and a PhD in social anthropology. Her research interests are health anthropology in a caring context, gender and ethnography.

Fiona Cowdell

Fiona Cowdell is a professor of nursing and health research at Birmingham City University, UK. Fiona undertakes clinically relevant research that is directly applicable to practice. She uses a range of Knowledge to Care (K2C) techniques to promote adoption of best evidence in health and social care settings. Alongside other work, Fiona is committed to developing new female clinicians and researchers.

Lina Palmér

Lina Palmér is an associate professor in caring science at the University of Borås, Sweden. She leads the research group Existential Issues in Caring and Learning Contexts. She is the director of studies for the PhD programme in Caring Science. Her research interest is directed towards existential issues in relation to caring, health and well-being, especially in the context of breastfeeding, childbearing and care of older people. Lina has a strong interest in developing the research area of existential caring science and the theoretical foundation for existential caring.