2007 Volume 21 Issue 1 Pages 31-39
Abstract
The purpose of this study is to make clear the emotional reaction process concerning treatment continuance for digestive cancer patients who had experienced metastasis or exacerbation of cancer during chemotherapy and to examine their nursing support.
Data was collected from 10 participants through participant observation and semi-structured interviews, which were analyzed by qualitative inductive analysis.
As a result, 4 phases were found in the emotional reaction process. Phase 1: “Beginning chemotherapy under both hope and hesitation”, Phase 2: “Continuance of chemotherapy as the balance between life and side effects is weighed”, Phase 3: “Emotional disorder due to cancer deterioration”, and Phase 4: “Readjusting oneself to face cancer itself”. In the series of emotional reactions, 4 types of reactions were clear: “emotionally expressive type”, “emotion-controlling type”, “experience-mediated emotion adaptational type”, and “dilemma type”.
In the emotional reaction process of digestive cancer patients who experienced metastasis or exacerbation during chemotherapy, each patient gave a different meaning in “chemotherapy continuance”, in spite of the fact that all patients decided to continue treatment upon all phases. Also, it has been observed that independence of patients in decision making differed depending on the patient’s introspection and external environment.
As for nursing support concerning patient decisions on treatment accompanying cancer progression, it is important that the roles of nurses in a medical team be established and that patients and their family could receive guidance from the point of initial treatment presentation so that patients suffering from the uncertainty of the future could receive guidance at the right moment.
