Experience of oncology nurses and cancer survivors during cancer treatment transition from oncology teams to primary care providers teams

Abstract

Cancer care for cancer survivors in treatment transition is fragmented. This phenomenological study explored experience of oncology nurses and cancer survivors in treatment transition. Patient and nurse participants were recruited by purposive sampling for individual semi-structured interview. Nursing Theory of Transition framework and Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis approach were applied to guide the study for data collection and analysis. Cancer survivors had concerns under personal transition and faced challenges under care transition. Oncology nurses were well positioned to play key role to provide quality cancer care. However, cancer care received was not sufficient to address cancer survivor’s concerns comprehensively. Positive experience and barriers for cancer care were explored. Implications and recommendations were suggested. Facing current context of Canadian health system with limited resources, this study would potentially provide helpful information to establish a new model for continuous and coordinated cancer care for cancer survivors in treatment transition.