The Lived Experience of Feeling Peaceful

Feeling peaceful is important to health and quality of life. The purpose of this research study was to discover the structure of the lived experience of feeling peaceful, to add to the body of knowledge related to the phenomenon of feeling peaceful, to advance nursing science by gaining an understanding of the structure of the lived experience of feeling peaceful, and to contribute to the expansion of the nursing theory of humanbecoming in relation to feeling peaceful. The Parse research method, a research methodology of the humanbecoming school of thought, was used to answer the question: What is the structure of the lived experience of feeling peaceful? Ten participants from the American Indian population in a medium sized city in the Midwest were recruited for this study. The processes of dialogical engagements, extraction-synthesis, and heuristic interpretation were used for data gathering and analysis. The central finding of the study was the structure: The lived experience of feeling peaceful is serene contemplations surfacing with gratifying engagements while enduring hardship. New knowledge extended the humanbecoming school of thought, enhanced understanding of the experience of feeling peaceful, offered new possibilities for research, and provided implications for nursing practice