Objective To analyze the major issues existing in grounded theory literature in nursing in China so as to improve nursing personnel's understanding of grounded theory and promote its application in nursing research. Methods Grounded theory literature in nursing were retrieved from Wangfang, CNKI and VIP Databases from January 2000 to April 2016. Articles which using grounded theory as a research method were included. Two researchers analyzed the main issues of these articles, explained misunderstanding and inappropriate research practice in depth based on grounded theory evaluation criteria, personal experiences and relevant knowledge, and some suggestions were offered accordingly. Results Twenty articles were included. The major pitfalls of these articles were methodology (11 articles, accounting for 55.0%), sampling (14 articles, accounting for 70.0%) and saturation (9 articles, accounting for 45.0%), data analysis (9 articles, accounting for 45.0%) and conceptualization (9 articles, accounting for 45.0%). Conclusions Although grounded theory has been used in many fields in nursing in China, it is still in the initial stage, and some misunderstanding appeared. It is necessary to strengthen the learning of grounded theory knowledge and practical exploration, increase the learning paths in future so as to improve the research quality and promote the development of nursing research.

Purpose: Body image changes are common among patients living with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) because of the illness and related treatments. Currently, there is little known about how those patients experience and perceive their altered body image in the literature. The aim of this study was to explore the experiences of body image changes in patients with IBD in China and to describe how those changes influence patients’ perception of body and self. Methods: This study used a descriptive qualitative approach. A total of 16 participants from three tertiary hospitals in southeast China were recruited through purposive sampling combined with maximum variation strategy. Data were collected through semistructured interviews and analyzed using conventional content analysis method. Results: The following six themes were extracted: (1) “being a constrained person,” (2) “being a flawed person,” (3) “being a disliked person,” (4) “being an alienated person,” (5) “being a reconciled person,” and (6) “being a blessed person.” Conclusion With the diagnosis of IBD and its side effects of treatments, patients’ life changed significantly and they were struggling to reinterpret their body and self. As a result, negative self-evaluations and/ or positive self-evaluations towards themselves generated. Further studies are required to explore the underlying mechanism and related influencing factors about how those different images were produced.

Purpose: Body image changes are common among patients living with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) because of the illness and related treatments. Currently, there is little known about how those patients experience and perceive their altered body image in the literature. The aim of this study was to explore the experiences of body image changes in patients with IBD in China and to describe how those changes influence patients’ perception of body and self. Methods: This study used a descriptive qualitative approach. A total of 16 participants from three tertiary hospitals in southeast China were recruited through purposive sampling combined with maximum variation strategy. Data were collected through semistructured interviews and analyzed using conventional content analysis method. Results: The following six themes were extracted: (1) “being a constrained person,” (2) “being a flawed person,” (3) “being a disliked person,” (4) “being an alienated person,” (5) “being a reconciled person,” and (6) “being a blessed person.” Conclusion With the diagnosis of IBD and its side effects of treatments, patients’ life changed significantly and they were struggling to reinterpret their body and self. As a result, negative self-evaluations and/ or positive self-evaluations towards themselves generated. Further studies are required to explore the underlying mechanism and related influencing factors about how those different images were produced.

Objective To explore the experiences of patients with ulcerative colitis.Methods A descriptive qualitative research approach was adopted.Purposive sampling was used and semi-structured interviews were conducted with 20 patients with ulcerative colitis.The data were analyzed using content analysis method.Results Three themes were derived:adjusting diet,taking the toilet as the centre,and keeping secret,which reflected patients′coping styles when living with ulcerative colitis.Conclusions Nurses should understand the complicated experiences of patients with ulcerative colitis and offer them effective and individualized support.

Objective To investigate the current cognition status of nursing staff on qualitative research, so as to provide information for related training courses. Methods A self-designed questionnaire was used to survey 111 members who attended the nursing qualitative research training course in Zhejiang Province in 2014. Results Among 100 respondents,60% knew little about qualitative research, only 15% respondents had done qualitative research before. The main qualitative research methods that respondents had heard of were phenomenology (4%) and descriptive qualitative method(10%). Literatures (51%) was the main way to get knowledge on qualitative research. Conclusions The cognition level of nursing staff on qualitative research needs to be improved urgently by offering more targeted training courses.

Objective:To explore the stigma of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) patients, to understand patients' stigma experience and its influences so as to provide a theoretical basis for medical staff to carry out targeted psychological nursing.Methods:From March 2017 to July 2019, we selected 16 IBD inpatients and outpatients of Gastroenterology Department in three ClassⅢ Grade A hospitals of Zhejiang Province as subjects by purposive sampling. The face-to-face semi-structured interview was used to patients with the method of descriptive qualitative study, and the conventional content analysis was used to analyze data.Results:A total of four themes on stigma experience of IBD patients were extracted, perceived stigma, enacted stigma, internalized stigma and influential factors of stigma.Conclusions:Most IBD patients are with stigma after diagnosis influenced by disease, treatment, mental state, social customs and culture which has different expression forms and degrees. Medical staff should provide individualized care and carry out feasible coping strategies for patients according to their stigma experience.

As the constant development of qualitative research in China, especially phenomenology, interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) has gained some attention among nursing staff in recent years. Although there has been some preliminary practice, several issues also emerge, including misunderstanding of IPA, research progress not rigorous enough and research reporting not transparent enough, low quality of data analysis, and insufficient raw data to support. Therefore, this study aims to analyze the current situation and existing problems of the application of IPA, and provide learning cases and theoretical knowledge for reference, so as to enhance the understanding of IPA and research process among Chinese nursing staffs. Besides, this study will also promote the positive development and appropriate practice of IPA in nursing filed in China.

Descriptive qualitative research is one of the qualitative research approaches rarely reported in nursing field in China, but it has been used by some nursing personnel in recent years. During the process of promoting this method, some pitfalls regarding the methodology and research process also appeared. This paper analyzed two major issuesabove. Based on that, some suggestions and availableexamples were offered and basic knowledge and characteristics of descriptive qualitative research were introduced, so as to improve its understanding for nursing personnel and promote its application in nursing in China.