Recovering from stroke: a qualitative investigation of the role of goal setting in late stroke recovery

This article examines the role of goal setting in the continuing relationsh ip between specialist nurse and patients recovering from stroke. The nurse intervention was intended to ease the patient through the stages of recover y from stroke, focusing on emotional and social recovery rather than physic al function. Literature on the use of goals in the nursing process is discu ssed. The article uses data from contemporary nurse records and from interv iews with nurses and with patients and caregivers. The data from each of th ese elements were subjected to content analysis and were then synthesized u sing a grounded theory approach to interpret their significance. The perspe ctive of patients and caregivers provides an additional insight into the us e and limitations of goal setting which is largely developed in the literat ure from a nursing perspective. Nurses were found to have different interpr etations of the use of goal setting. Some used it explicitly in their relat ionships with patients, whilst others used the concept to inform their acti ons whilst being less explicit and more informal. In all cases they demonst rate the tension between establishing and supporting progress towards reali stic recovery goals and recognizing the limitations now placed on stroke vi ctims.