Perceived Hurts and Forgiveness in Clinical Nurses - The Status and Influencing Variables -

Abstract

Purpose: The purposes of this study were to describe events resulting in perceived hurts in nursing, and to identify factors influencing forgiveness in clinical nurses. Methods: The study was a descriptive correlation design. From May to July, 2009, the researcher used interviews to collect data from 148 clinical nurses from five hospitals in D city. Results: Clinical nurses received perceived hurt from peer-nurses, care-givers, and doctors, and the reasons for the perceived hurts were blame, neglect, and valuation. Levels of forgiveness in clinical nurses were different according to who caused the perceived hurt, the degree of the perceived hurt, and endeavors to resolve the perceived hurts. Levels of forgiveness in clinical nurses were negatively correlated with age, degree of perceived hurt, and degree of anger expression, and positively correlated with degree of self-esteem. The strongest predictors of forgiveness in clinical nurses were degree of anger expression, age, and degree of hurt. Conclusion: The findings of the study suggest that nursing staff should be able to identify reasons for perceived hurt in clinical nurses and provide a forgiveness program for each nursing situation.