Lung Cancer Survivor Experiences With Post-Treatment Care: An Integrative Review

Problem Identification: Lung cancer survival rates are improving, and survivors may have unmet post-treatment care needs. Oncology nurses’ understanding of these needs can guide development of holistic survivorship care.

Literature Search: A comprehensive search of CINAHL^®, PubMed^®, and Embase^® databases was performed to explore lung cancer survivor experiences with post-treatment care.

Data Evaluation: The final sample included 25 studies that were critically appraised for methodologic quality.

Synthesis: Eight themes were identified: relationships with healthcare providers, psychosocial issues such as stigma, disparities such as race or gender, guidance about health behaviors, understanding symptoms and physical activity, development of survivorship programs, self-care or self-management, and evaluating survivorship care plans.

Implications for Research: Issues, such as race, gender, and stigma, represent barriers to holistic lung cancer survivorship care. Little mention of care coordination emphasizes the need for research in this area. Understanding the interplay of symptom and healthy lifestyle management is needed.