Conference Proceedings - School of Nursing & Midwifery - Trinity ...

School of Nursing & Midwifery, Trinity College Dublin: 8 th Annual Interdisciplinary Research Conference
Transforming Healthcare Through Research, Education & Technology: 7 th – 9 th November 2007
Conference Proceedings
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PERCEPTIONS OF STROKE SURVIVORS IN THE FIRST SIX
WEEKS OF STROKE
Authors:
Elizabeth Mitchell, Lecturer of Nursing at University of Ulster,
Northland Road, Londonderry, BT48 7JL. MSC, PgDip Higher
Education teaching for nurses and midwives. BSc Specialist
Practice Stroke Care, RGN.
Brendan McCormack, Director of Nursing Research and PD, Royal
Hospitals Trust/University of Ulster, Nursing Development Centre,
Royal Victoria Hospital, Grosvenor Road, Belfast BT12 6PA. DPhil,
BSc, RNT, RGN, RMN, PGCEA.
Background and context
Incidence of stroke is set to rise in tandum with global ageing
trends. In the UK and in Ireland professional bodies have called for
concerted action in terms of planning and manageing stroke
services that meet the needs of individuals at risk of stroke and
following stroke and to more adequately support their family carers.
Aim of Study
To investigate the experiences of a sub-sample of stroke survivors
moving through one regional hospital.
Methodology
The Whole System Working with Older People project (McCormack
et al., 2005) examined services for older people. In one strand, the
experiences of older patients (n=50) as they moved through
hospital systems were captured through narrative accounts
recorded in taped interviews. This presentation focuses on the
secondary analysis of interview data from a convenient sub-sample
of patients (n = 13) who had experienced a stroke.
Analysis
Taped interviews were transcribed verbatim and subjected to
thematic analysis. Themes emerged pertaining to ‘making sense of
stroke’, ‘access to rehabilitation therapy’, ‘significant relationships’
and ‘accepting the routine’.
Summary of key findings
Many patients had diagnosed their stroke prior to examination by
medical staff and admission to hospital. Individual patients
invested time in making sense of his/her particular stroke event
and sequelia, recognising it as uniquely different from the strokes
affecting others. Rehabilitation therapies were considered to be
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