8 - Optimization of Self-care in Adolescents and Young Adults after Liver Transplantation: A Qualitative Study

Saturday, April 29, 2023

3:30 PM – 6:00 PM ET

Poster Number: 8
Publication Number: 8.2

Sachi Takeuchi, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL, United States; Kuniko Hagiwara, Jikei University of Health Care Sciences, Ibaraki, Osaka, Japan; Takehisa Ueno, Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, Suita, Osaka, Japan

Presenting Author(s)

Sachi Takeuchi, RN, PHN, MSN (she/her/hers)

Assistant Professor
Formerly of University of Hyogo
Chicago, Illinois, United States

Background:

Nurses and physicians must intervene to optimize self-care in adolescents and young adults (AYA) after liver transplantation. Because this population is more likely than other liver transplant populations to experience deteriorating health outcomes, optimization of their self-care is critical to maintaining their health.

Objective:

Our aim was to investigate how exceptional Japanese nurses who were certified as recipient transplant coordinators (RTC) intervened to optimize self-care in AYAs after liver transplantation.

Design/Methods:

We interviewed six nurse RTCs recommended by their division directors at six different Japanese facilities about how they had intervened to optimize AYA self-care after liver transplantation, audio-recording each interview. The recordings were transcribed and subjected to content analysis.

Results:

Nurses created and maintained an enabling environment to monitor AYAs from immediately after liver transplantation to the end of young adulthood, and they accepted AYAs as they were in terms of their maturity level and behaviors. Nurses also supported the stability of AYAs’ health outcomes by varying the frequency of their interventions while also maintaining AYAs’ quality of life and emotional stability as top priorities. In addition, nurses helped them become aware of their responsibilities to themselves and encouraged them to establish a concept of self that included their transplantation experience. Moreover, nurses supported AYAs’ ability to adhere to their medication regimen, modify their behaviors based on blood test results, and adjust their social lives according to the health values they had developed. Finally, the nurses helped parents of AYAs to transition to a parenting style that supported their children’s independence.

Conclusion(s):

Our findings will improve nurses’ understanding of how they can optimize self-care and improve health outcomes among AYAs after liver transplantation.