Researchers and educators are increasingly implementing qualitative research methods to investigate issues of concern and interest. Hermeneutics has risen as an option for the qualitative research paradigm particularly after the 1970s. The precedence of the sciences that have applied hermeneutics as their approach to investigation is provided with special reference to nursing. In the nursing science, hermeneutics have been used extensively as a qualitative research method to investigate a variety of issues, through the lived experiences of the participants. In this paper, we introduce important aspects of the philosophy of Paul Ricoeur and we discuss the reasons why we have applied this approach in our study titled 'Quality Nursing Care: perspectives of patients with cancer and the nursing response'. The arguments that are presented here can be generalised to fit other areas of Nursing Science. Through this paper our aim is not only to familiarise the reader with Ricoeur's work, but also to arrive at an appreciation of his philosophy as a methodological approach for future nursing research.

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The Research Centre for Transcultural Studies in Health, Middlesex University and the Ethiopian Community Centre in the UK conducted a study to explore the migration experiences of Ethiopian refugees in the UK and the impact of this on their health beliefs and behaviours. Data was collected via: i) semi-structured interviews were conducted with Ethiopians refugees and asylum seekers and Ethiopian professionals providing services for Ethiopian refugees; ii) a semi-structured questionnaire; iii) a documentary analysis of newspaper articles concerning refugees; and iv) an ethnohistory of Ethiopia. The findings revealed that Ethiopian refugees place a stronger emphasis on externalised factors influencing health (such as happiness and good social relations) than they did in Ethiopia. The study found that participants fled Ethiopia due to oppression, violence, fear and poverty; and once in the UK experience poor housing, unemployment, racism and isolation, all of which impact on their health status. Whilst it is difficult to ascertain how these factors affect health beliefs it is probable that these negative experiences and the consequent unhappiness they have caused have highlighted to them the relationship between health and subjective well-being, something that people who have not suffered such life traumas may take for granted. In the UK Ethiopian refugees are more likely to seek Western medicine than they did in Ethiopia, which reflects both acculturation and differences in health resources. This study highlights that Ethiopian refugees, require holistic health care that addresses all their needs--physical, mental, spiritual, environmental and social-cultural. Nurses should understand that many refugees have had traumatic experiences and continue to live in desperate circumstances. Thus nurses should be aware of the experiences, needs and beliefs of refugees and address their own cultural competence.

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This paper describes an ethnographic perspective on the role of a Muslim shrine in Pakistan. Most shrines in Muslim countries represent the Sufi tradition in Islam where followers seek healing and fulfilment of their wishes using Sufi saints as intermediaries. In Pakistan, the shrine of Hazrat Abdullah Shah Ashabi provides a significant religious, social, physical, and psychological resource where people engage in religious rituals, community living and healing rituals to address physical, emotional, and social ailments. In addition to the explanatory models of misfortune described by the informants, gender, poverty, availability of formal health services, and social support seem to play a significant role in emphasizing the position of the Sufi shrine in a Muslim setting.The bus journey from Karachi took me to Thatta in about 2 h. Crammed into the front seat of a 16-seat coach which actually held 24 passengers sitting in odd postures, leaving no room for the stretching of legs or in fact, moving any part of the body. As soon as I see the sight of the gate for Makli Hill, I breathe a sigh of relief and prepare to get out. From there, I take a rickshaw [a motorized passenger carrying vehicle] to get to the shrine of Hazrat Abdullah Shah Ashabi. While I negotiate fares with the rickshaw driver, people selling fresh roses, flower petals and sweets at a small wooden cabin persuade me to buy these small offerings to leave at the shrine. The rickshaw ride takes about 10 minutes through one of the world's largest Muslim mausoleums and graves of thousands of Sufi saints and Mughal emperors buried over several centuries. Every so often, I pass beggars sitting in what shade is available and waiting for some generous shrine visitor to bless them with a few rupees with which they can buy food for themselves or their families. Women, men, and children also walk towards the shrine, looking tired and exhausted in the debilitating heat.Correspondence: Farida M. Pirani,