Perspective on life, interpersonal relations and death after the experience of accompanying a dying person

Namen našega magistrskega dela je bil raziskati, kako posamezni udeleženci raziskave doživljajo izkušnjo spremljanja svojega bližnjega v času bolezni in umiranja. Pri tem nas je zanimalo njihovo doživljanje odnosa, ki so ga z bolnim in umirajočim imeli pred izkušnjo spremljanja, med procesom spremljanja in nekateri tudi kasneje po smrti bližnjega. Ob raziskovanju doživljanja bolezni, umiranja in smrti, smo se osredotočili na doživljanje ključnih spoznanj na področju življenja, medosebnih odnosov in smrti, do katerih so posamezni udeleženci prišli z izkušnjo spremljanja. V teoretičnem delu smo najprej obravnavali smrt kot naraven in gotov del življenja, posvetili smo se tudi občutku strahu, ki ga (misel na) smrt prebuja, ter odnosu do smrti. Podrobneje smo se ukvarjali s soočanjem s smrtjo znotraj splošne in strokovne javnosti v zahodni družbi. V nadaljevanju smo predstavili proces spremljanja umirajočega preko treh ravni: preko samega procesa umiranja, oskrbe umirajočega in njegovih potreb ter spremljevalca umirajočega, ki v proces spremljanja vstopa z določenimi lastnostmi, kvalitetami, znanjem in veščinami. V kontekstu smrti je treba vključiti proces žalovanja, njegove faze in stopnje, naloge žalujočega in dejavnike, ki vplivajo na posameznikov proces žalovanja. Ker naj bi ključno vlogo v procesu žalovanja igrala rekonstrukcija pomena, smo ob koncu teoretičnega dela pisali še o ustvarjanju pomena in potravmatski rasti na področju življenja, medosebnih odnosov in smrti. V empiričnem delu smo predstavili rezultate kvalitativne raziskave, v kateri je sodelovalo osem udeležencev. Podatke smo pridobili z vnaprej pripravljenim polstrukturiranim intervjujem, izkušnje udeležencev pa smo analizirali s pomočjo fenomenološke metode. Na podlagi pridobljenih rezultatov smo izpostavili šest področij: doživljanje procesa spremljanja bolnega in umirajočega, doživljanje odnosa med spremljevalcem in umirajočim, doživljanje bolnika in umirajočega, doživljanje bolezni in smrti, doživljanje spoznanj spremljevalca bolnega in umirajočega, doživljanje zdravstvenega sistema in izkušenj znotraj njega.The purpose of our master\u27s thesis was to learn how individual research participants experience being present during an illness and death of their loved one. We were interested in the companion\u27s relationship with the dying before the experience of accompanying them, during the illness and after the death of a loved one. When researching the experience of illness, dying and death, we focused on the key insights on life, interpersonal relationships, and death that individual participants gained from the experience in question. In the theoretical part of the paper, we first discussed death as a natural and certain part of life, the feeling of fear it awakens and the attitude towards death. We focused on the confrontation with death within the general and the professional public in Western society. After that, we presented the process of accompanying the dying based on three levels: the process of dying, care for the dying and their needs and the companion of the dying, who enters the monitoring process with certain characteristics, qualities, knowledge and skills. In the context of death, we could not ignore the grieving process, its phases and stages, and the factors that affect an individual’s grieving process. Since the reconstruction of meaning is supposed to play a key role in the grieving process, we also talked about the creation of meaning and post-traumatic growth in the field of life, interpersonal relationships and death. In the empirical part of the paper, we presented the results of a qualitative research involving eight participants. Data were obtained through a semi-structured interview, prepared in advance. The experiences of the participants were analysed using a phenomenological method. Based on the obtained results, we exposed six areas: experiencing the process of accompanying the ill and dying, experiencing the relationship between the companion and the dying, experiencing the patient and the dying, experiencing the illness and death, experiencing the insights of the companion of the ill and dying, experiencing the health system