A CONCEPTUAL FOUNDATION FOR HUMAN SUFFERING IN NURSING-CARE AND RESEARCH

Suffering is a significant, yet elusive, phenomenon in nursing and hea lth care. Despite the importance and prevalence of suffering, there is only a small body of substantive literature on this topic. Some of th e difficulty in expanding this knowledge base undoubtedly is related t o the lack of a solid conceptual foundation for exploration of this ph enomenon. Although there have been attempts to provide needed conceptu al clarity, these efforts typically have not been based on systematic inquiry. In this study, the method of concept analysis was used to ind uctively generate a definition of the concept of suffering and to clar ify various contextual aspects of the concept. Suffering is defined as an individualized, subjective, and complex experience that involves t he assignment of an intensely negative meaning to an event or a percei ved threat. implications of these findings and additional contextual a spects of the concept for nursing practice and inquiry are presented. These results help to provide the conceptual foundation needed to enha nce recognition and understanding of the human experience of suffering .