Posttransplant quality of life expectations

This descriptive exploratory study with 57 renal transplant recipients employed a structured interview guide to determine where patients heard about transplantation, what knowledge they had about transplantation, and why they chose to have a transplant. Nearly half the patients heard about transplantation from their physician and a fourth from their dialysis nurse. Patients had little comprehensive knowledge about transplantation, and most patients indicated transplantation was chosen merely to get off dialysis. The interview also sought to determine what expectations transplant recipients and their nurses had for the patients post-transplant quality of life. Both patients and nurses viewed transplantation as creating many more favorable quality of life changes as opposed to negative changes, however, the nurses anticipated significantly more positive as well as negative changes than did the patients.