Aims and objectives: To understand the lived experience of nurses who care for people undergoing maintenance haemodialysis.
Background: There is a lack of research regarding the lived experience of nurses caring for people undergoing chronic haemodialysis, in spite of an increased number of nurses and patients.
Design: A qualitative descriptive phenomenological study was conducted.
Methods: Fourteen nurses working at two haemodialysis centres in Korea were selected via purposive sampling and participated in in-depth interviews. Data were collected from October 2013-January 2014 and analysed using the phenomenological research method.
Results: Four themes were extracted for haemodialysis nurses' caring experience: feelings of pity for clients scheduled for haemodialysis treatment; continuous effort to establish good relationships with clients; feeling comfortable with clients, as though they were family or friends; and reflecting on their own lives through the lives of clients.
Conclusions: Haemodialysis nurses experienced therapeutic relationships while taking care of clients undergoing haemodialysis; they also experienced maturation through reflection on their lives as nurses and human beings. An understanding of nurses' experiences in caring for people undergoing haemodialysis should be the basis of practice, education and nursing research in haemodialysis.
Relevance to clinical practice: This study could be helpful in enabling nursing students and/or nurses to understand the experience of caring and its meaning with respect to clients undergoing haemodialysis.
Keywords: caring experience; haemodialysis; nurses; phenomenological research.
© 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.