Background: Critical care is the term used to encompass ‘intensive care units’, ‘intensive treatment units’ and ‘high dependency units’. These units provide expert care for critically ill patients who require constant, close monitoring and specialist nursing to keep them alive. Previous research has shown that admission to critical care can be a frightening, upsetting and traumatic experience. Haematological cancer patients who receive a haematopoietic stem cell transplant (HSCT) frequently require admission to critical care as a result of this potentially curative but extremely aggressive treatment. No previous research has explored the unique experience of HSCT patients admitted to critical care. Aim: To gain an in-depth understanding of the experience of cancer patients’ admission to critical care. Methods: Five HSCT patients who had been admitted to critical care completed semi-structured interviews. Transcripts were analysed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis. Results: Six superordinate themes were identified: gaps in recollection, unreal experiences, being in the right place, unexpected and unprepared, role of family and life after critical care. It was clear that despite the patients recalling potentially distressing experiences from their stay in critical care, they had no regrets about having the transplant and viewed their admission as being worth it. Themes are discussed in relation to relevant literature. Conclusions: This study offered a unique insight into the experience of being admitted to critical care following stem cell transplant. Implications for the treatment and care of cancer patients admitted to critical care are discussed.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:586770 |
| Date | January 2013 |
| Creators | Diamond, Cara |
| Publisher | University of Glasgow |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Source | http://theses.gla.ac.uk/4615/ |
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