2025 Volume 45 Pages 916-926
Objective: To clarify the process by which childhood cancer survivors working as nurses make meaning from their experience with cancer.
Method: This study was a qualitative study using the Trajectory Equifinality Model (TEM) Interviews were conducted with seven childhood cancer survivors who work as nurses.
Results: For childhood cancer survivors working as nurses, their struggle with illness meant finding meaning in their hospital treatment, or “searching for an invisible exit.” However, they later came to view it as “enjoyable community life in the hospital.” After completing treatment and returning to society, they experienced “heartbreak due to prejudice,” but later came to view it as “a special experience” and “a way to give back to others with an illness.” After becoming nurses, they began to view their struggle with illness as “support for others with the same illness” and “a part of self-development.” They also began to interpret it as “the basis for empathizing with patients.”
Conclusion: The process by which childhood cancer survivors working as nurses make meaning from their struggle with illness was a process of utilizing their struggle as a basis for empathy with patients in nursing. These findings suggest that childhood cancer survivors are living with dignity, drawing on their experience with cancer.
