Existential Reflections Expressed by Patients in Need of Hospital Care: A Qualitative Study.
Carolina Lindström, Elisabeth Lindberg, Ann-Helén Sandvik and 1 others
PMID 40551297WHAT IT FOUND
Hospitalised patients described feeling vulnerable, stuck waiting, guilty about illness, and unsure about roles and home life.
They used life stories to express what mattered and to make sense of a changed future.
Key findings
01The central experience was feeling vulnerable while trying to regain a sense of existential security.
02Long waits for tests, results, examinations, or caregiver attention made patients feel forgotten, anxious, and more uncertain about their illness.
03Illness brought guilt and questioning of past choices, and some patients felt displaced as family roles shifted.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for OTsWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
Twelve patients from hospital units in southwestern Sweden were studied, so the findings are detailed experiences, not a broad estimate of all hospital patients. Only patients who could verbally share their experiences were included, so patients who cannot communicate may be missing. Some participants struggled to grasp what existential reflections meant, so the interview questions may have shaped the accounts. Interviews were done during the hospital stay and could be short or paused for fatigue, which may limit what patients could reflect on. The study describes experiences and did not test whether any caregiver conversation improves outcomes.
Declared interests
The authors declared no conflicts of interest. The study was funded by Högskolan i Borås.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read these themes as proof that a particular conversation improves hospital outcomes. The study interviewed 12 patients and described their experiences; it did not test an intervention or measure recovery.