Discharge needs of allogeneic transplantation recipients

Hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) recipients are one of the most complex patient populations to teach at the time of discharge. The purpose of this article is to discuss the qualitative themes that emerged at the time of discharge for 141 transplantation recipients who were enrolled in an advanced practice nurse (APN) intervention study. The APN intervention consisted of six teaching sessions, and the qualitative data for this article involved the first session at the time of discharge. Content analysis was conducted on the patient-initiated narrative content and structured into three groups: content scheduled to be covered at Session 1, content scheduled to be covered at a later session, and content that was not part of the scripted intervention. All topics were organized into the quality-of-life framework (physical, psychological, social, and spiritual or survivorship). Most of the patient-initiated topics, which were not part of the scripted intervention, were psychosocial in nature. Nurses need to be aware of the complex teaching needs that encompass not only physical issues but also psychosocial issues at discharge. That teaching awareness needs to be coupled with flexibility, competence, and comfort with challenging psychosocial issues.