Self-healing Process and Nurses’ Enhancement Perceived by Thai Buddhist Widows from Unrest Situations, Southernmost Region of Thailand

Abstract

This study aimed to describe the healing process of Thai Buddhist widows after the sudden loss of their spouse. Grounded theory method was employed for the research methodology. In-depth interview, and non-participation observations were used to collect the data. The participants comprised of 13 Buddhist widows (key informants) who had experienced the sudden loss of their spouse and gained success to heal themselves, and 2 nurses (associated informants) who were associated with widow's healing. The first two participants were selected using the snowball sampling (suggested by psychiatric nurses), and the rest were recruited by theoretical sampling. Data were analyzed using the coding procedure and constant comparison to generate the conceptual model. The results showed the core category of the healing process among Thai Buddhist widows which was named as "Reconciliations for Harmonious Life". This category comprised of three main subcategories consisting of; 1) Realizing the loss and learning to survive, 2) Cultivating to balance life, and 3) Fulfillment with the new life. The process of healing was facilitated in Thai Buddhist widows by two main factors 1) internal factors: religion belief, concerning of their parent's love and future of children, self-abilities and perceived of self-abilities, 2) external factors: support from family members and friends, caring from psychiatric nurses and health care provider teams, money compensation from government. In addition, Thai Buddhist widows reflected that their healing process was dynamic and receiving continuing support from nurses who played an important role on the healing process in each stage. Early on the first stage of the participants being exposed to the loss of their husband the nurses provided a nursing care by assessing their conditions and providing the support. In the second stage, the nurses provided several interventions through the supportive group and enhance the problem solving skills, as well as training in new skills that benefited the widows in their new careers. Lastly, the nurses took on the role as a mentor to coach the participants in gaining more self strength. The knowledge gained from this study could be used for developing the appropriate nursing interventions in facilitating and enhancing the strength and psychological growth of widows. Furthermore, the conceptual model derived from this study is required to be tested for further research.