The Evolution of Phenomenology in Korean Nursing Research: A Scoping Review

Phenomenological methods are used to capture human experience, and nursing research has long attempted phenomenological approaches in many studies. This study explored the 22-year trends (2001 to 2022) in phenomenological research within Korean nursing science and identified the types of journals where research is published, common phenomenological data analysis methods, phenomena of interest, and standards of rigor applied to phenomenological studies.This scoping review followed the six stages recommended by Arksey and O'Malley's (2005) and utilized the PRISMA Extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR) for reporting guidance. A total of 4,354 articles acquired through systematic searches across of seven search engines PubMed, CINAHL, Embase, Research Information Sharing Service (RISS), Korea Citation Index (KCI), Korea Institute of Science and Technology Information (KISTI), and Koreanstudies Information Service System (KISS) were reviewed. Key search terms and inclusion and exclusion criteria were used as strategies to identify relevant articles.In the final review, 568 Korean phenomenological studies were included. Among the phenomenology research, 50.4% of the total work was performed between 2016 and 2020, and the Colaizzi method of study was the most common (62.9%). Most researchers were published in nursing journals (55.8%). Nurses constituted most participants (24.5%), followed by patients with illnesses (23.1%), and people of all ages. The primary focus included participants' experiences: the disease experience of the sick, job-related experience of the nurses, and learning-related experience of the nursing students. The median sample size of reviewed papers (i.e., 9) is relevant to phenomenological research saturation. The most rigorous studies applied Lincoln and Guba's criteria (54.0%).Advancing phenomenological research in nursing entails giving priority to diverse perspectives, rigor and the foundational essence of phenomenology. Ensuring transparency and reliability requires reinforcing rigor through the integration of phenomenology, philosophy, and effective data methods.