"My Mom Is a Fighter": A Qualitative Analysis of the Use of Combat Metaphors in ICU Clinician Notes.

ABSTRACT:

Background

A metaphor conceptualizes one, typically abstract, experience in terms of another, more concrete, experience with the goal of making it easier to understand. Although combat metaphors have been well described in some health contexts, they have not been well characterized in the setting of critical illness.

Research question

How do clinicians use combat metaphors when describing critically ill patients and families in the electronic health record?

Study design and methods

We included notes written about patients aged 18 years or older admitted to ICUs within a large hospital system from 2012 through 2020. We developed a lexicon of combat words and isolated note segments that contained any combat mentions. Combat mentions were defined systematically as a meta

SUBMITTER: Kim S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11638541 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature