Regaining familiarity with own body after treatment for operable lung cancer - A qualitative longitudinal exploration

12^th Nursing and Healthcare Congress

October 03-05, 2016 Vancouver, Canada

Malene Missel

Copenhagen University Hospital, Denmark

Scientific Tracks Abstracts: J Nurs Care

Abstract :

Little is known about the experiences of operable lung cancer patients during treatment in a clinical setting based on fasttrack surgery. The study aimed to explore (1) the embodied meaning of illness in patients with operable lung cancer during treatment to 4 months after surgery and (2) patterns of change over time that may affect the patients� daily lives. Twenty patients referred for lung cancer surgery were interviewed three times, corresponding to potential critical transition points following surgery: hospitalization; hospital-to-home transition; and resumption of daily life activities. Data collection, analysis and interpretation followed a phenomenological hermeneutical approach inspired by Ricoeur and the theoretical framework was grounded in Merleau-Ponty�s phenomenology of perception. The findings reveal the process patients went through in regaining familiarity with their own body after lung cancer treatment. Through the post-operative trajectory the patients� resumption of daily activities involved adjusting to a new awareness of everyday life, physical restrictions and their perception of themselves. The findings are expressed in four sub-themes: (1) perceptions of embodied alterations; (2) transformation of embodied structures in the transition from hospital to home was unexpectedly challenging; (3) embodied perceptions of the inter-subjective world; and (4) transforming embodied disruptions into bodily awareness. Patients experienced a smooth treatment trajectory regarding physical consequences of illness and treatment which might be due to the fast-track surgery. Clinicians should be aware of patients� experiences of illness to facilitate patient reconstitution of own identity.

Biography :

Malene Missel has a Masters in Nursing and has completed her PhD in March 2016 from faculty of health and medical sciences, Copenhagen University Denmark. She is working as a clinical nurse specialist at the department of thoracic surgery with care, nursing and rehabilitation for patients with operable lung cancer.

Email: malene.missel@regionh.dk