Objective: To explore the meaning of nurses' caring for mothers experiencing postpartum depression.
Design: Phenomenological research design; in depth, unstructured interviews were conducted.
Setting: The interviews were conducted in the mothers' homes.
Participants: A purposive sample of 10 mothers who had experienced postpartum depression.
Results: Using Colaizzi's (1978) phenomenological method, the transcriptions of these interviews were analyzed. Seven themes emerged that illustrated nurses' caring for mothers experiencing postpartum depression: having sufficient knowledge about postpartum depression; using astute observation and intuition to make quick, correct diagnoses; providing hope that the mothers' living nightmares will come to an end; readily sharing their time; making appropriate referrals for the right path to recovery; providing continuity of care; and understanding what the mothers were experiencing.
Conclusions: The exhaustive description of caring that emerged from this phenomenological study will help sensitize nurses to issues to consider in caring for mothers experiencing postpartum depression.