“If life were a line, mine would be a circle”: a phenomenological study of hospitalisation in the situation of first episode psychosis for young people, family members and nurses

Abstract

Using the early work of Martin Heidegger and the work of contemporary feminist phenomenologist Kelly Oliver to analyse and interpret the descriptions of hospitalisation, the study circles the phenomenon of hospitalisation from different textual locations. Young people and family members identify their concerns regarding their past and present experiences and future potentialities with regard to their Being-in-the-world and Being-with-others. They identify keeping connected with family, school and friends, the limitation of horizons resulting from being thrown into the world of mental illness, and finding safety and refuge in the hospital space as important in the context of disconnection and indeterminacy. The understandings gained from the descriptions given by the participants are explored in relation to nursing practice. Analysis reveals the tensions for nurses between regulatory nursing practices and the social and ethical imperatives implicit in nursing positioned beside the young person.