Colorectal Cancer Patients' Experiences with Cancer Life and Medical Care

Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to reveal experiences deal with medical care and living with cancer of Turkish colorectal cancer patients. Materials and Methods: This study used a qualitative descriptive approach to understand the experiences' of 17 adult Turkish patients with colorectal cancer receiving chemotherapy for at least 2 months in a training and research hospital oncology unit between August and December 2015. Semi-structured interview guides were developed from a literature review and reviewed by 5 experts. Participants were interviewed at 1-2 times for around 30 minutes. Data analysis comprised content analysis Results: The 17 interviewees were between 19 and 80 years old. Most were male, married and had children. The experiences of the colorectal cancer patients receiving chemotherapy were classified into four main themes; Being diagnosed with cancer, Living despite of cancer, Treatment with chemotherapy, Medical care at home and fourteen sub-themes. Conclusions: Oncology nurses can use to results of this research at patient care. They can learn their patient experiences and they can make their nursing plans according to patients' experiences. In this way, patient satisfaction and care quality can be increased.