Physical and Psychological Problems Experienced and Coping Strategies Used by Heart Transplant Recipients after Their Operation

This study is aimed at discovering the basic psychological problems and coping strategies used by heart transplant patients. In addition an important goal is the generation of a theory based on the data collected from interviews with patients. The consequences of the study is to provide nurses with the necessary information to help patients make the maximum use of their existing coping strategies and in the case of ineffective patterns to help them change to more effective ways of dealing with their problems. Forty two heart transplant recipients who had undergone their operation in Royal Infirmary of Glasgow provided the sample for the present study. The primary means of data collection was through informal, in-depth and unstructured interviews. The research approach was based on Glaser and Strauss's principles for the generation of grounded theory and the techniques of comparative analysis and theoretical sampling were employed. Transcripts were coded for themes which were clustered to form named categories. Grounded theory approach to data collection and analysis proved to be appropriate for the research problem as little has been written about the psychological stress for the patient that follows transplant procedures. Although the limited research carried out is of interest and provide many clinical examples they typically focus on the end result of a patient's adjustment to a stressful situation. Unfortunately they ignore the details or processes of the stress and coping strategies of the heart transplant patients. The data produced four categories which conceptualised heart transplants recipients' experience: 1) Traumatic experience, 2) Somebody else's heart in side me, 3) Coping, 4) That's a small price to pay for being alive Vs Too big a price Finally, the categories were arranged around the central theme of the research, heart transplant recipients' experience , to form an analytical version of the story. The theory of "Price to pay for being alive: Coping with the postoperative demands in Heart Transplantation" developed in this study, explains the coping process involved in heart transplant recipients adjustment to the postoperative life. Making the coping process explicit may contribute to an understanding of the problems involved in heart transplantation. Increased understanding of this process could provide indicators for the appropriate care of heart transplant recipients and a theoretical foundation for the education of care professionals. Care professionals, in turn, can assist patients to modify their beliefs about heart transplantation and develop attitudes and beliefs to meet the challenge of living with continual unpredictability