"My Arm and Leg - They Are Just Sleeping"

Nurse R.N., MSc, PhD, Professor in the Department of Nursing Studies, Catholic University of Applied Sciences, Freiburg, Germany.

Revision with unchanged content. A stroke at a younger age (under 55) is disruptive and the response of each individual is highly unique. The findings of this study can help for an understanding of the experience - for people with this illness, for health care in general - and nursing in particular. A stroke at a younger age means taking an enforced break from the normality of life. As individuals this means being given time to rethink priorities. Socially it means suffering from an old person's disease at an unusually young age. Norms of being young and healthy are violated, which can lead to feelings of stigma. The work environment provides a place of importance to appraise the post-stroke self and abilities and to compare these with their previous equivalents. However, coping with the tension created by stress at work, fear of getting another stroke and the desire to be seen as normal and not as someone after stroke can be a difficult and lonely task. The disruption of the feeling of security demands explanations as to why the stroke happened and how to prevent another one. The disruption of normality demands explanations that can legitimise this abnormal illness and the changes it brings to the outside world.