A study of the lived experiences of parents waiting for their child to receive an organ transplant

Abstract The purpose of this phenomenological research study was to discover and understand the lived experiences of parents waiting for their child to receive an organ transplant. Dr. Murray Bowen's 1978 family systems theory was used as the theoretical framework. Five parents agreed to a telephone interview where they expressed in their own words their lived experiences while waiting for their child to receive an organ transplant. The parent-participants responded to 15 open-ended questions in a semi-structured manner. These parents shared what they felt when they first heard their child needed an organ transplant. They shared their perceptions about how there family, friends, and community were involved. They expressed how they felt when interacting with medical staff. They talked about how their finances were impacted and how their child's situation impacted their marriages. They were willing to share what they did to cope, and if they involved themselves with support programs. The parents in this study also gave positive advice that other parents who read this study or hear about this study could follow while waiting for their child to receive an organ transplant. Seven key themes were developed from their responses revealing consistent patterns in their similar phenomenon. Some of the themes were: shocked! devastated! disbelief after hearing that their child needed an organ, transplant - only option, at least one or both parents could not work, and to cope stay positive. The pattern and lack of a pattern in the data (i.e., participant responses) were compared to the literature gathered for this research study.