“It's a part of the patient”: The experiences of patients with cancer undergoing home-based chemotherapy from patients' and nurses' perspectives

OBJECTIVE: Home-based chemotherapy is widely used and offers advantages in terms of patient-centeredness, hospital capacity, and cost-effectiveness. However, in practice, patients experience difficulties with self-management and handling the elastomeric infuser. In this study, we aimed to explore the experiences of patients undergoing home-based chemotherapy based on patients’ and nurses’ perspectives. Additionally, we aimed to identify patients’ unmet needs. METHODS: A qualitative descriptive study was conducted in a tertiary hospital in South Korea. Ten patients undergoing home-based chemotherapy and ten nurses with experience in home-based chemotherapy participated. Data were collected by using semi-structured individual interviews and analyzed by using inductive content analysis. RESULTS: Four main categories were identified based on the interviews: (1) ambivalence regarding comfort vs. enduring the discomfort, (2) acceptance of the discomfort as a part of them, (3) the need for more precise, numerical measurements, and (4) the realization that they need similar hands-on care at home as in a hospital. CONCLUSIONS: Although patients were satisfied with home-based chemotherapy, they were enduring the difficulties they experienced at home alone. Nurses should make an effort to identify patient needs and devise tailored nursing interventions to improve their safety.