Experienced concept of breast cancer survivors: directions for nursing and health care

Concepto vivido de sobreviviente de cáncer de mama: orientaciones para la enfermería y la atención en salud

Objective  To unveil the existential movement of being a woman survivor of breast cancer.

Method  Qualitative, phenomenological, with Heideggerian analytics from 15 interviews, between October2020 and January2021 in a teaching hospital in Minas Gerais. The construction of seven Meaning Units was followed by comprehensive methodical moments.

Results  The being-there-woman-survivor-of-breast-cancer showed itself in the ways of being of everyday life, occupied in manuality of tasks inside and outside the home, moved by impersonality and impropriety. The fear of death, gossip, curiosity and ambiguity were revealed that led to decadence, experienced in the world of treatment and follow-up, enabling being-with. The anguish that announced itself fleetingly was followed by the decadence that most of the time the presence remains.

Conclusion  The need to structure a specialized and interdisciplinary line of care is reinforced, in which care centered on active and qualified listening encompasses multidimensionality, envisioning women in aspects that permeate cancer survival.

Keywords
Breast neoplasms; Cancer survivors; Qualitative research; Nursing