The Experience of Nurses Providing Home Nursing Care to Oldest Old Persons Living Alone in Rural Areas—An Interview Study

The rapidly increasing population of older persons worldwide, and the fact that the majority of them want to continue living in their own homes, mean there is a growing focus on home based care. Because of this, it is necessary to increase the number of studies, including rural areas, as earlier studies are sparse. Rural areas cannot be seen as a homogeneous phenomenon, meaning more research is needed to increase knowledge about cultural differences in rural areas. The aim of this study was therefore to describe registered nurses’ experiences of providing home nursing care to oldest old persons living alone in rural areas. A sample of 15 registered nurses in rural South Sami areas was chosen for this study, 13 women and 2 men. Narrative interviews were conducted, and qualitative content analysis was used to interpret the data. The analysis revealed four themes and eight subthemes in addition to a core-theme. The latent meaning of the themes “Feeling responsible”, “Trying to accommodate”, “Being challenged” and “Feeling significant” formed the core-theme: contradictions between nurses’ ideals of being professional and the reality faced in rural home nursing care with close social relationships. The findings in this study showed that the experiences of providing home nursing care in rural areas to oldest old persons were multifaceted and altering, as well as emotionally and socially contradictory.