At home with meaning: Older persons' meaning in life, good home nursing and nurse education

Meaning in life (MiL) is a subject of growing interest in (Dutch) society. In later life,MiL can be a challenge for older persons, among others, due to loss of dear onesand loss of physical and mental ability. Most older persons in the Netherlands agein place (in their private homes), hence home nurses frequently encounter olderpatients with MiL issues. According to the Dutch nurse competence profile, MiLissues are principle problems on which nurses should focus. However, nurses inpractice feel incompetent in this regard. The scholarly literature provides littlesupport, as it contains multiple gaps regarding: MiL of older home nursingpatients; home nursing with respect to older patient’s MiL; and education in thisregard. Lack of knowledge and competence contributes to nurses’ dissatisfactionand may negatively influence patients’ health and quality of life. The objective ofthis thesis is to generate knowledge with respect to the mentioned knowledge-gaps.Additionally, this work contributes to good professional practice and to educationwith respect to older home nursing patients’ MiL.