Parents' Perceptions of Their Children's Lung Transplant Experiences

Abstract

There is little informationfrom the perspective of parents living with a child who has undergone lung transplantation. A phenomenological approach integrating Schutz's postulatesfor the construction of social reality with Colaizzi's method of analysis was used to investigate the meaning of the experience. Fifteen parents of 12 children were interviewed. Theme clusters reflecting the meaning of the stages of the transplantation experience were formulated. Parents perceived lung transplantation as creating hope for the future, creating a context of uncertainty and an opportunity for normalcy, and promoting the development of a new perspective on life. Humanistic nursing practice theory provided the link between study results and nursing practice. Implicationsfor nursing practice were identified.

Concept Analysis and the Advance of Nursing Knowledge: State of the Science

“…Morse, Wilson, and Penrod (2000) further refined the concept by studying how children with chronic conditions compared themselves both to other children with disabilities and non-disabled children when describing their own lives. These eight reports provide examples of how the original analysis contributed to further concept and theory development (Lee & Rempel, 2011;Lindsay, 2014;Morse et al, 2000;Rehm & Bradley, 2005;Rehm & Catanzaro, 1998;Robinson, 1993;Sanderson et al, 2011;Stubblefield & Murray, 1998). There were six articles in the "other" category.…”

Waiting for transplant: Physical, psychosocial, and nutritional status considerations for pediatric candidates and implications for care

“…Transplantation consists of several successive stages, including recognition of a life‐threatening illness; a workup to determine eligibility; the decision for transplantation; waiting for a suitable donor; an operative period when a donor is found; a recovery period; and, long‐term follow‐up care . Of these various stages, the ‘waiting period’ for transplantation has been described as the most stressful ; being referred to as “supreme torture” and “living with a time bomb” .…”

Not being able to live like before: the family dynamics during the experience of pediatric liver transplantation

“…In this model, family's resources are unbalance in the family due to more intense adaptation needs in these periods; two chronic phases, which are: waiting for the transplantation and living with it, marked by relative constancy and stability though still exposed to risks and uncertainties (17)(18) .…”