[Loneliness: a concept analysis].
Loneliness is a kind of mood that most people have experienced at one time or another. Individual experiences with loneliness as joyful or painful saturation are highly personal and can be defined only in such a context. Loneliness has differing effects on the long-term health of individuals. Although loneliness impacts greatly on individual health, there is little in the literature related to concept analyses of loneliness. The purpose of this article was to use Walker and Avant's (2005) concept analysis methodology to review conceptual definitions of loneliness, characteristics, antecedents and consequences; construct examples and establish empirical measurements. Results indicate that defining attributes of loneliness included an individual's subjective mood, descriptions of aloneness, depression, desolation or empty feelings, and the perception of the spirit isolated from others. It is hoped that nursing staffs may better understand loneliness through this article, provide an assessment of client loneliness as early as possible, and enhance client health condition.