Masters - Chapter Overview

The following chapters will set out to explore and investigate the lived experience of nurses treating patients who have suffered from pseudocyesis. In order to do this effectively it was necessary for me to first carry out a literature review in which I examined the existing knowledge of the condition and then formulated that knowledge into a coherent breakdown of current thoughts and theories on the subject of the treatment and understanding of pseudocyesis. Having accomplished this I will then move onto explaining the research approach that I will be employing in order to complete this dissertation in Chapter 3. This will involve me explaining why I have decided to use a Heideggerian thought process as part of my phenomenological research approach. The fourth chapter will describe the method of snowball sampling I used to conduct my interviews of nursing experience and what the limitations of this method are, before moving on to report the findings of those interviews in Chapter 5. Having reported my findings I then discuss those findings in the sixth chapter and examine any notable differences and similarities in the nurses lived experiences that the interviews have highlighted. Chapter 7 will then form my conclusion, where I reflect on what has been learnt through my research and what possible implications, if any, there are for future nursing practice.