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Clinical Research
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The lived experience with a chronic venous stasis ulcer in the working aged population Diane Merkle, MSN, CWOCN ColaizziÕs descriptive phenomenology is the method used for this pilot study to understand what people experience when they have a disabling chronic venous stasis ulcer and are unable to work. Venous stasis ulcers affect between 18 and 1% of the population and may affect 400,000 to 600,000 people in the United States. They can cause significant pain and disability as well as being a costly condition to treat. A 1994 study of young, working age people showed a significant correlation between leg ulceration and time lost from work, job loss and adverse effects on finances. It is estimated that approximately 2 million work days are lost annually due to leg ulcers. The psychological stress of living with a chronic wound may actually contribute to the chronicity of the wound, in light of identified links between the immune, endocrine systems and psychological factors. The four themes revealed by the participants were: Loss of self, treatment failure, role loss, and emotional suffering. The overall essence of living with a chronic venous ulcer is Òloss of selfÓ, characterized by the overwhelming loss of what people were and what they had before they suffered from the chronic venous ulceration. Ader R, Cohen N, Felton D. Psychoneuroimmunology:interactions between the nervous system and the immune system. Lancet. 1995;345:99Ð103 Beitz JM, Goldberg E. The lived experience of having a chronic wound: a phenomenologic study. Med Surg Nurs. 2005;14(1):51Ð62 Browse NL, Buernard KG. The postphlebitic syndrome: a new look. 1978 Bergen J, Yao JS (eds). Venous problems. Chicago, IL: Yearbook Medical Publishers, 1978:395Ð404 Browse NL, Buernard KG. The cause of venous ulceration. Lancet. 1982;ii:243Ð245 Callam MJ, Harper DR, Dale JJ, et al. Chronic ulcer of the leg: clinical history. Br Med J (Clin Res). 1987;294:1398Ð1391 Charles H. The impact of leg ulcers on patientsÕ quality of life. Professional Nurs. 1995;10(9):571Ð574 Chase SK, Melloni M, Savage A. A forever healing: the lived experience of venous ulcer disease. J Vasc Nurs. 1997;15(2):73Ð78 Colaizzi P. Psychological research as the phenomenologist views it. In: Valle RS, King M (eds). New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 1978:48Ð71.. .Existential phenomenological alternatives for psychology. Valle RS, King M (eds). New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 1978:48Ð71.. |
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