Date of Award
1993
Document Type
Thesis
Publication Status
Version of Record
Submission Date
October 2026
Thesis/Dissertation Advisor [Chair]
Schoenhofer, Savina
Abstract
The aim of this study was to understand the meaning of commitment to nursing from the perspective of critical-care nurses. Phenomenology was the research method. Van Manen's approach guided this study with Munhall's adaptation of existential investigation. Seven nurses participated. All were selected on a voluntary basis provided they were working in critical-care, had two years of critical-care experience, and were willing to talk about the topic of commitment. Several themes emerged as essential to humanistic experience of commitment to nursing. Contextual descriptions of commitment also emerged. The nurses' primary commitment was to the patient and the ethical dilemmas that surfaced when they tried to honor that commitment proved the major source of frustration and dissatisfaction. Commitment was found to be the connection or bridge to caring. Without commitment there was no caring. Implications for nursing administration and education were addressed. Additional questions were raised for future research.
Extent
151 p.
Recommended Citation
Cutler, Sharon Brown, "Commitment - the bridge to caring: The meaning of commitment as lived by critical-care nurses" (1993). Electronic Theses and Dissertations 1990 - 1999. 404.
https://digitalcommons.fau.edu/etd_general_4/404
Identifier
FADT14965
Comments
Thesis (M.S.)--Florida Atlantic University, 1993.|Christine E. Lynn College of Nursing|FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection|Thesis (M.S.)--Florida Atlantic University, 1993.