"Jag kan inte tänka på något annat": en empirisk studie om rädsla ur ett livsvärldsperspektiv

Background: Nursing staff often meet with patients that experience fear. An understanding of human's lived experiences is central in nursing. Attempts to understand phenomena that influence daily life of humans might contribute to a positive interaction between patient and nurse. Purpose: The aim was to describe fear from a life-world perspective. Method: The study was based on 74 narratives about fear, written by nursing students and a qualitative content analysis was used. Results: Situations that led to uncertainty and powerlessness triggered fear. When experiencing fear the usually silent body became “loud”, the body was felt as uncontrollable and the informants were temporally confused and had an altered perception of reality. The fear arouses more and new emotions and wishes to fight and flee. When the fear faded away, the body became silent, the informants perceived the situation unreal and embarrassing and felt that the experience left marks on their bodies and minds. Discussion: What frightens humans is individual as different people direct their consciousness differently. Fear exists in the lived body. It influences and is influenced by the lived time. Attempts to make one‟s own fear consciousness contribute to an ability to recognize and understand other's fear as well. Conclusion: To see and understand other's fear is central in nursing, as well as in other caring services. Since lived experience of fear is central it is important not to be prejudiced about what situations that trigger fear and to

avoid judging other peoples fear.