Holding death at bay: the experience of the spouses of patients undergoing cardiovascular surgery.
This study utilized a grounded theory design to investigate the experiences related to being the spouse of a cardiovascular surgical patient during five subject-identified phases: a) finding out the surgery was necessary, b) waiting for surgery, c) waiting during surgery, d) the intensive care unit (ICU) experience, and e) the recovery period before hospital discharge. Data were collected from each of eight subjects via three unstructured, tape-recorded interviews conducted a) on the day of the patients' hospital admission, b) during the first 48 hours of the patients' ICU stay and c) just before the patients' hospital discharge. Holding Death at Bay was identified as the core category. Three main categories: uncertainty, helping commitment and reorganization emerged from the data and were apparent in each of the five subject-identified phases of the spouses' experience. Main categories and subcategories of the core category emerging from the data are described. Implications of this research for nursing practice and further nursing research are discussed.