Masters - Explanation of Conclusions

The definite conclusions that I feel can be made about the lived experiences of nurses who have treated patients that have suffered from pseudocyesis are that the patients physical symptoms will cause them to appear to be visibly pregnancy and this may include a distended abdomen and/or abdominal disturbance – 100% of the nurses I interviewed reported these physical symptoms. This notion of appearing physically pregnant may be made even more apparent by the swelling and lactation of the breasts – reported in 50% of the patients. Another definite conclusion that can be drawn is that pregnancy tests do not provide reliable results in cases of pseudocyesis – 50% of patients tested positive for pregnancy, with Patient 5 receiving both a positive and negative result in two separate pregnancy tests. The next definite conclusion that can be drawn from the nurses lived experience is that there is a strong correlation between patients with mental health conditions and those that suffer episodes of pseudocyesis – 83.3% of patients discussed within the interviews were reported as having a mental health condition of some nature. Further definite conclusions on the nurses’ lived experience that can be drawn are the psychological imprints of the pseudocyesis on the minds of both patients and nurses. The episodes of pseudocyesis reported have produced strong emotional responses in both those who have suffered from the condition and those who have treated the condition. Pseudocyesis causes trauma to the patients it affects and bearing witness to this trauma and emotional suffering can have an effect on the nurses who treat these patients. This was made most obvious in Interview 4 when the nurses become upset during her recounting of their lived experience.