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Pensar Enfermagem / v.28 n.sup / October 2024
DOI: 10.71861/pensarenf.v28iSup.397
Abstract
Introduction
A heart transplant has a positive impact on the quality of life and functional status of the
transplanted person, but there are a number of challenges they will face when they return to
everyday life. 1
The return home of the heart transplanted person is mediated with some anxiety, but also
in the expectation that the main challenges of recovery will be overcome. But how does the
person integrate the transplanted heart into their new body scheme in their daily life?
Objective
Describe the first insights from the existential organizer, "the lived body", on the person's
return home after a heart transplant.
Methods
The preliminary results presented are part of a phenomenological and hermeneutic
investigation supported by a methodology proposed by van Manen. 2
Nine interviews were conducted with heart transplant patients who had been home for
more than three months, aged between 38 and 62. The interviews lasted an average of 70
minutes, were recorded on audio files and transcribed verbatim.
The analysis of the findings is inspired by an interpretative phenomenological approach
based on macro and micro-thematic reflection, carried out at various points in the analysis,
in order to extract the meanings of the text. 2
Approval was obtained from the ethics committee.
Results
Returning home is marked by physical limitations that affect self-care: walking, getting up,
climbing stairs, bathing and using the toilet are the most frequently mentioned difficulties.
Concerns about infections and rejection often lead to a fear of being hospitalized again,
and rejection can be seen as a permanent battle between the native organs and the "foreign
organ".
New lifestyle habits that the person is obliged to adopt, such as the choice between eating
healthier, exercising regularly, restricting the frequency of visits and socializing with other
people, are the cause of internal psychological conflicts.
Conclusion
The physical difficulties, the evolution in self-care capacity and the strategies used are
common references in this initial analysis. However, emotional conflicts and the need, often
overlooked but expressed by the patient himself, for greater attention to his psychological
dimension also emerge.
Keywords
Heart transplant; Lived experience; Return home; Phenomenology; Self-care
Bibliography
1. Cebeci F, Cetin C, Catal E, Bayezid O. Life experiences of adult heart transplant
recipients: a new life, challenges, and coping. Qual Life Res. [Internet] 2021 [cited 2024 Fev
07]; 30(6):1619–27. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11136-021-02763-y.
2. van Manen M. Phenomenology of practice: Meaning-Giving Methods Phenomenological
Research and Writing. USA: Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group; 2014. 413 p.
António José Ferreira1
orcid.org/0000-0002-0919-9082
Joaquim Oliveira-Lopes2
orcid.org/0000-0003-2571-7078
1 Centro de Cirurgia Cardiotorácica e Transplantes de
Órgãos Torácicos, Unidade Local de Saúde de
Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal; Centro de Investigação,
Inovação e Desenvolvimento em Enfermagem de
Lisboa, Escola Superior de Enfermagem de Lisboa,
Lisboa, Portugal
2 Centro de Investigação, Inovação e Desenvolvimento
em Enfermagem de Lisboa, Escola Superior de
Enfermagem de Lisboa, Lisboa, Portugal
Corresponding author:
António José Ferreira
E-mail: antonio.jsfer@gmail.com
After the heart transplant, the return home: the body
at the center of the first insights into the lived
experience
