The link between task-focused care and care beyond technique: A meta-ethnography about the emotional labour in nursing care

Abstract

Objective: To synthesise the available body of qualitative work regarding the experiences of registered nurses and nursing students in managing emotional demands of care.

Background: Care is the central part of nursing, and its provision is linked to interaction with patients. Comprehensive care allows emotions to be considered as an essential part of care. However, the emotional commitment that care demands poses a challenge for the nursing staff.

Design: Noblit and Hare's interpretive meta-ethnography, which was written and reviewed for reporting clarity using the eMERGe.

Methods: A comprehensive systematic search strategy was undertaken in PubMed, CINAHL, Scopus, Web of Science and PsycINFO in January 2020. The search included terms related to the sample population, phenomenon of interest, purpose of the study and type of research. Original or mixed qualitative articles in English, Spanish and Portuguese were included if they addressed the emotional labour experiences of nurses or nursing students.

Results: A line-of-argument synthesis based on the metaphor The link between task-focused care and care beyond technique was developed. Three themes from analogous and refutational translations of findings in the included nine papers emerged: (1) forces to get involved in care; (2) the cost of caring and (3) need to vent.

Conclusion: Nursing staff and students managed the emotional demands by adjusting their involvement in care. Care beyond technique is provided by nurses who have strength and motivation in themselves and in the interaction with patients to become emotionally involved in care. Task-focused care avoids emotional exposure to patient suffering due to the personal cost involved. Venting and distancing are required to emotionally reconstruct themselves and to re-engage in care.

Relevance to clinical practice: Increased knowledge about these experiences may raise awareness of the emotional demands as part of the care process, to prevent their impact and favour their support.

Keywords: nurses; qualitative research; ‘emotional adjustment’; ‘nurse-patient relations’.