Going in Dialysis is Time to Live : Family’s Experiences of Everyday Life with Haemodialysis Treatment

Time is a central concept when attempting to capture how life develops as results of the interaction between the individual and those in his/her immediate environment. Chronic renal disease such as ESRD with chronic haemodialysis not only shortens life but also places everyday life on a thin line survival paramount. The haemodialysis is also a time-consuming treatment that makes it necessary to carefully plan of everyday life and involves next of kin to a large degree. The aim of this study was to explore the content of time in everyday life as experienced by the next of kin of haemodialysis patients. This study used explorative and descriptive design with a content analysis approach. The interviews, which were conducted in the informants’ homes, lasted 20-60 minutes and were audio-taped and transcribed verbatim in order to not to lose any information. Twenty next of kin were selected purposive with the criterion of having at least one year of experience as a next of kin of a patient on haemodialysis. The content of time in everyday life can be described as follows: fragmented time, vacuous time and uninterrupted time. Conclusion which illustrate how time is minimised and life space contracted for next of kin and their family. They were aware of the prognosis of renal disease and the fact that haemodialysis is life-sustaining treatment, which forced them to live for the moment. It is important to gain insight into how time influences the next of kin’s experiences of everyday life and how this knowledge can be communicated in the nursing science