Abstract:
Objective: Home-based chemotherapy is widely used and offers advantages in terms of patient-centeredness, hospital capacity, and cost-effectiveness. However, in practice, patients experience difficulties with self-management and handling the elastomeric infuser. In this study, we aimed to explore the experiences of patients undergoing home-based chemotherapy based on patients’ and nurses’ perspectives. Additionally, we aimed to identify patients’ unmet needs.
Methods: A qualitative descriptive study was conducted in a tertiary hospital in South Korea. Ten patients undergoing home-based chemotherapy and ten nurses with experience in home-based chemotherapy participated. Data were collected by using semi-structured individual interviews and analyzed by using inductive content analysis.
Results: Four main categories were identified based on the interviews: (1) ambivalence regarding comfort vs. enduring the discomfort, (2) acceptance of the discomfort as a part of them, (3) the need for more precise, numerical measurements, and (4) the realization that they need similar hands-on care at home as in a hospital.
Conclusions: Although patients were satisfied with home-based chemotherapy, they were enduring the difficulties they experienced at home alone. Nurses should make an effort to identify patient needs and devise tailored nursing interventions to improve their safety.
Reference:Jang H, Kim S, Kim D, Park M, Rhue S, Lee C, Kim S, Kang B, Lee H. “It’s a part of the patient”: The experiences of patients with cancer undergoing home-based chemotherapy from patients’ and nurses’ perspectives. Asia Pac J Oncol Nurs. 2022 Apr 22;9(8):100072. doi: 10.1016/j.apjon.2022.04.011. PMID: 35692730; PMCID: PMC9184288.