Managing family life while studying : single mothers' lived experience of being students in a nursing program

Evidence suggests that single parent families are more likely to be affected by problems associated with poor health and poverty. Single parent families are growing in number and are overwhelmingly headed by women. Despite their increasing number and their level of vulnerability, the lived experiences of single mothers have attracted little attention in the literature. Still little is known about many aspects of life as experienced by single mothers. Nursing is a profession that is dominated by women, and every year a number of single mothers enrol in undergraduate nurse education programs. Currently, there is little information about the experiences of women who are single mothers, undertaking a nursing degree in a university. This paper reports a study that explored the lived experiences of five single mother undergraduate nursing students. Van Manen's phenomenological method informed the design and conduct of the study. Findings were grouped into the following themes: being exhausted all the time; being overwhelmed with worries; and being hopeful of the future. Findings of this study revealed that the single mother's major health concerns were chronic tiredness and overwhelming worries. However, their being in the university was perceived as being health promoting and restoring to their self esteem. Implications for educators, health providers and women's health services are drawn from the findings.