Acute leukaemia and malignant lymphoma patients' experiences of disease, treatment and nursing care during the active treatment phase: an explorative study.

Five acute leukaemia or highly malignant lymphoma patients at a hospital in southern Sweden were interviewed about their daily living problems, their coping strategies and their opinions about the nursing care they received during the active phase of their treatment. In addition the EORTC QLQ-C30, the Global Life Quality and the Sense of Coherence scales were administered. The data were analysed from a hermeneutic phenomenological perspective and interpreted to indicate that the patients sensed a threat to their lives, loss of control, and having to live with uncertainty stemming from the disease and the treatment. They had problems with fatigue, diarrhoea, nausea and vomiting, loss of appetite, sore mouth and high temperature. However, they seemed to minimize the importance of these problems and instead focused on gaining control of the situation, developing their knowledge of the disease and relying on the support of their family. Contradictions appeared in their statements about the quality of care, the information given was said to be good but difficult to understand; although the quality of the nursing care was judged to be high it had to be asked for. That is, help was received on request. The patients' perspective of the family and the nurses should be studied in further research in order to fully understand the patients' coping strategies and how nursing care can support them.