Living With Migraines

Living with Migraines: A Phenomenological Study of Women’s Experience

Migraines plague countless people each day, but yet there is not much in the way of understanding the experience. This study gives you a glimpse of what migraine sufferers experience daily, from frustration to relief. They feel that healthcare professionals do not take them nor their experience seriously.

Abstract

The study that I have chosen discusses the link between holistic nursing care, listening to your patients, and migraine sufferers. The study states that approximately 18.2% of American women suffer from migraines, so the purpose of this study is to find out how these headaches affect these women and how we can help them as nurses.

Applying the Nursing Process

Migraines may be felt specifically on one side of the head, produce moderate to severe pain, and may be aggravated by physical activity. The patients may experience auras, nausea, vomiting, and sensitivity to light. This was a major precedent when selecting patients for the study.

The study was guided using both phenomenological inquiries and story theory. Phenomenology is described as the understanding of a person’s everyday experiences affect them and then having that person explain it to someone else. Story theory involves the gathering of first hand stories from the patients as described in an interview process, these stories included first migraine experiences and well as interactions with healthcare providers.

The study was geared to women over the age of 18. Those who reported headaches that were not considered migraines or did not speak English were excluded. Each person was interviewed for about 45 (forty-five) minutes to an hour. Among the participants, the stories became repetitive by the time they interviewed the eighth