Introduction: Lung transplantation is a treatment option for patients who have incurable or end-stage lung disease. One or both lung wings can be transplanted. In Slovenia transplants have been taking place at the University Medical Centre Ljubljana since 2018. Preparing a patient for transplantation can be exhausting for patients, as they are also hospitalised during this time and may not be suitable candidates for transplantation after all the tests have been carried out. The family plays a very important role in the process of preparing for lung transplantation, as do the nurses, who spend a lot of time with the patients. Purpose: The aim of this thesis is to examine the importance of psychosocial support from the family/carer and from nurses. We also want to find out whether social support is really that important before and after transplantation. Methods: We used a descriptive method with a review of Slovenian and foreign literature. The literature search was conducted through remote access of the University of Ljubljana Digital Library (Dikul) in PubMed/Medline, Cinahl, COBIB and Google scholar databases. The search for articles took place between February and November 2022. The time frame used was 2007 to 2022. The keywords used in the search for articles were: lung transplantation, social support AND lung transplantation, psychological support AND lung transplantation, nursing support AND lung transplantation. Results: For the analysis of the results we used 6 articles that met the inclusion criteria, of which one was a systematic literature review. The studies were conducted in the United States of America (Florida, Pennsylvania, North Carolina), Sweden and Australia and ranged from 16 to 191 participants. The literature review concluded that patient caregivers are very important at all stages of transplantation. They provide psychological support, help with physical tasks as the patient’s physical capacity deteriorates, and often provide financial support. All this responsibility can also have a negative impact on the caregivers, who often become depressed during the patient's treatment. During hospitalisation, however, the patient spends most of the time with the nurses, and communication is the most important aspect of the nurse-patient relationship, as patients expect them to provide both psychological support and answers to questions that arise during hospitalisation. Discussion and conclusion: Regardless of what happens, relatives or other caregivers are important during the transplant preparation period, as they provide the patient with a sense of security. Nurses are also important, as patients are often hospitalised due to an exacerbation of the underlying disease. Above all, the patient should be given psychological support, as it has been proven that many suffer from depression and anxiety before and after transplantation.
|
