Aims and objective. The aim of this study was to illuminate nurses’ experiences ofconsolation and how these experiences relate to suffering and care.Background. Consolation is commonly associated with the relief of suffering. Thequestion of consolation in terms of its definition and relevance for care has, however,been a matter of discussion among nurse researchers. The question raisedconcerns about the nature of consolation, its place and its role in relation to care andthe caring sciences.Design. An explorative qualitative interview study with 12 participants, six registeredand six enrolled nurses, was carried out in a home-care context.Methods. A phenomenological-hermeneutic method inspired by the French philosopherPaul Ricoeur was used for the text analysis.Results. Two main aspects of consolation appeared: ‘the present consolation’, whichis flexible, sustaining and opening and ‘the absent consolation’, which conceals thesuffering and is incapable of consoling. The result was interpreted from a philosophical-ethical perspective, based on the works of Levinas and Lo¨ gstrup.Conclusions. Consolation appears as a complex phenomenon, both in terms of itsexistence and its absence consolation, constituting a caring and non-caring consolation.A caring consolation entails meeting the other as different and being presentin a way that gives the other space to be the one he or she really is. It requiresacceptance, accepting the sufferer and his/her way of suffering as unique.
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