En vän men ändå inte en vän. : En grupp distriktssköterskors beskrivningar av innebörden av att vårda patienter med svårläkta bensår.

Sammanfattning: Abstract Background Working in primary care with chronic leg ulcers is both time-consuming and difficult. There is a large category of patients with leg ulcers, that is expected to increase in a number of years, and many of them will probably come to a district nurse for help. Aim The aim of this study was to describe the district nurses' experiences of caring for patients with chronic leg ulcers in primary care. Method The approach was qualitative. The study was done with a phenomenological life-world approach. Seven district nurses working in primary care were interviewed. The phenomenological perspective focuses on the respondents’ own life-world and has openness to the interviewee's own experiences. The phenomenon we wanted to study was the district nurses’ experiences of caring for patients with chronic leg ulcers. Results In the study it emerges that district nurses feel that it is fun to work with this patient category, although the workload can sometimes feel heavy. There are often many long meetings, for a long period of time, and a relationship evolves between the district nurse and the patient. The nurses feel they have a different and deeper relationship with these patients and they experience the emergence of an unusual friendship.