Hermeneutic Phenomenological Research Research Articles

Patients' experience of confusion in the intensive care unit following cardiac surgery.

This article reports a study of postoperative intensive care as experienced by coronary artery by-pass patients. The purpose is to describe and reflect upon the patients' experience of confusion in the intensive care unit (ICU). The study was performed according to the phenomenological-hermeneutic research tradition, with ten patients participating. In a free dialogue, the patients were each asked to discuss their experiences in the ICU. The patients remembered their confusion well; it was a significant, incomprehensible experience for them. They felt anxiety while on the threshold between awareness and unawareness, and the fast-paced activity of the ICU environment threatened to draw them into the 'vicious circle' of confusion. In this situation patients emphasised the importance of closeness with a professional person to whom they could turn. The quality of the presence of the nursing staff was significant for the patients, for it was through the true presence of the nurses that patients felt safe, understood and accepted. Patients' comments concerning their confusion verified the challenge this phenomenon poses in nursing care. A research methodology which highlights the individuality of the patients can uncover other hidden or unquestioned issues in nursing. Accordingly, further areas for study are suggested here.

Philosophy of qualitative inquiry: Hermeneutic phenomenology and communication research

HERMENEUTICS AND SOCIAL SCIENCE. By Zygmunt Bauman. New York: Columbia University Press, 1978; pp. 263. $16.00. HERMENEUTICS: INTERPRETATION THEORY IN SCHLEIERMACHER, DILTHEY, HEIDEGGER, AND GADAMER. By Richard E. Palmer. Evanston, Ill.: Northwestern Univ. Press, 1969; pp. xvi+283. $14.95. UNDERSTANDING AND SOCIAL INQUIRY. Edited by Fred R. Dallmayr and Thomas A. McCarthy. Notre Dame, Ind.: Univ. of Notre Dame Press, 1977; pp. 365. $16.95. INTERPRETIVE SOCIAL SCIENCE: A READER. Edited by Paul Rabinow and William M. Sullivan. Berkeley, CA.: University of California Press, 1979; pp. 367. $22.50; paper $6.95. EXPLANATION AND UNDERSTANDING. By Georg Henrik von Wright. Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell Univ. Press, 1971; pp. xvii+230. $14.50. UNDERSTANDING AND PREDICTION: ESSAYS IN THE METHODOLOGY OF SOCIAL AND BEHAVIORAL THEORIES. By Stefen Nowak. Boston: D. Reidel Publ. Co., 1976; pp. xix+482. $63.20. UNDERSTANDING SOCIAL LIFE: THE METHOD CALLED VERSTEHEN. By William Outhwaite. New York: Holmes & Meier, 1976; pp. 127. $...

The Experiences of Ethiopian Unaccompanied and Separated Migrant Children in Yemen

International child migration has become a modern form of brutality. Ethiopia is also one of the source countries for thousands of young migrants leaving their villages in search of better opportunities elsewhere. The article aims to explore the experiences of Ethiopian unaccompanied and separated migrant children in Yemen. The study was conducted using constructivist research paradigm qualitative hermeneutic phenomenological inquiry with a cross sectional exploratory study design. Twelve purposefully selected unaccompanied and separated migrant children returnees from Yemen, with the registered age of sixteen and seventeen, had participated in the study. Data collected through in-depth interviews, focus group discussion and observation were analyzed thematically. The finding indicated dreadful experiences such as detention; bomb attack; physical abuses; emotional problems; imprisonment; starvation; military recruitment; and sexual abuse which were part of the lives of unaccompanied and separated migrant children in Yemen. The study concluded that the experiences of the migrant minors in Yemen were against the universally declared basic human and child rights that recognize the inherent dignity of all human beings and the developmental needs of children in particular. Findings implied points for comprehensive social work practice, and further research endeavors on the topic under investigation.Keywords: Child migrants, Unaccompanied Child, Separated Child, Ethiopia, Experiences, Yemen