This bachelor`s thesis was made to order to a pulmonary-neurology department. The aim of the research was to find out what kind of experiences the patient`s relatives have of the treatment of epilepsy. The research was carried out also in the outpatient clinic in order to get a bigger amount of responses. The authors were interested in neurology, because they had completed their medical clinical placement at the same ward. Furthermore, the authors wanted to have in-depth knowledge about how the relatives of an epilepsy patient were met at the ward and the outpatient clinic. The goal of research was to develop the nurses` work, so that they could take the relatives better into account in specialized medical care and thus reinforce the participation of the relatives in the treatment. The research was both qualitative and quantitative. The main concepts of the re-search were adult epilepsy, nursing and relative. The target group for the research was the relatives of an epilepsy patient and six of them took part in the research. There research was conducted with a questionnaire. The material was collected during spring 2013. The research material was analysed with content analysis method and with Microsoft Excel 2010 program.
The relatives were not taken very well into account in the ward or in the outpatient clinic. Most relatives got information orally from the physician or searched for the information on their own. Support was received from the nurses, when the nurses answered the questions the relatives had. Most of the instructions for further treatment for epilepsy concerned epilepsy medication. In general the relatives were dissatisfied with the care given in the ward and in outpatient clinic. They hoped for more information and support during the time of the illness, especially at the early phases of the treatment. The relatives were satisfied with the kindness of the personnel at the ward and the outpatient clinic.