A Qualitative Study on the Psychological Experience of Lung Cancer Patients During the Perioperative Period

To explore the psychological changes experienced by lung cancer patients throughout the perioperative period and to provide a reference for nurses in developing targeted psychological care plans.

From December 2023 to January 2024, ten patients undergoing lung cancer surgery at a tertiary hospital in the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region were recruited through purposive sampling. Semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted, and data were analyzed using Colaizzi's seven-step method to identify and refine emergent themes.

Four major themes and eleven sub-themes were extracted: (1) Shock, disbelief, and emotional turmoil following diagnosis (disbelief and denial; acute emotional breakdown and rapid recovery; navigating a complex information environment); (2) Preoperative hope, hesitation, and risk-benefit deliberation (surgery as hope; hesitation and weighing of pros and cons); (3) Physical and psychological transitions within the brief perioperative window (preoperative anxiety and insomnia; intraoperative trust in the medical team; severe postoperative physical discomfort; proactive engagement in rehabilitative exercises); (4) Post-surgical psychological adaptation and reappraisal (the empowering and buffering effects of social support systems; reconstruction of perspectives and active adaptation to future life).

The psychological experience of lung cancer patients during the perioperative period is dynamic and multifaceted. Nurses are encouraged to engage in effective communication with patients, accurately identify emerging psychological concerns, and deliver timely, individualized psychological interventions. The presence of family members during interviews, as well as the fact that interviews were conducted by healthcare providers within the same clinical environment, may have constrained the full disclosure of certain fears and concerns, which constitutes a limitation of the present study.