A Qualitative Study On The Life Experience Of Patients Living With A PICC Line And Their Care Needs

Purposes:There are three purposes of this study:First, to explore the experiences of patients living with a PICC line; Second, to explore patients’ attitude and self-care behavior towards PICC line; Third, to determine which aspects cause patients’ difficulty and their personal care needs.Methods:A hermeneutic phenomenological approach was utilized in this study. With purposeful sampling strategy,13patients from either PICC clinic or wards were recruited and received smi-structured in-depth interviews. Data analysis was conducted through the process of transcribing, re-reading and coding. The findings were presented through the description and interpretation of themes and sub-themes.Results:Three themes were emerged from the data:"Uncomfortable physical experience";"Positive psychological experience";"Negative psychological experience" and "Patient’s care needs". Additional findings:1. Getting to know PICC is a passive acceptance process.2. Patients get little knowledge about what the catheter is.3. Patients’ protection awareness of vein is inadequate.4. The quality of sleep of patients carrying a PICC line and receiving breast cancer surgery is not good.5. Some caregivers take the responsibility for caring the line instead of the patients themselves.Conclusions:Patients living with PICC line have the uncomfortable physical experience, the positive and negative psychological experience. Dialectical views should be put on the uncomfortable physical experience. Healthcare staffs should make efforts to stimulate positive experiences and divert negative ones in order to help patients better adapt to the catheter. Implementing a more comprehensive education program and providing professional PICC-care services will largely satisfy patients’care needs.