Purpose: The aims were to explore the lived experience of combat-wounded patients and the military nurses who care for them.
Design and methods: The study was a qualitative phenomenological design, and focus groups were conducted with 20 nurses and 8 combat-wounded patients.
Findings: Themes common to nurses and patients were coping, shared experiences, finding meaning, psychosocial nursing care, families, and bureaucratic structure. Thematic differences were the patients' perspectives "changed self" while nurses described "professional boundaries."
Practice implications: The importance of finding meaning presents ideas that could help nurses and patients cope better with stressful situations regardless of the setting.
© 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.