Patient perspectives on liver transplant evaluation: A qualitative study.
Alexandra T Strauss, Janetta Brundage, Carolyn N Sidoti and 7 others
PMID 38896893WHAT IT FOUND
Patients undergoing liver transplant evaluation described feeling overwhelmed by many tests and unclear provider roles.
They wanted information timed to their stage, delivered in their preferred format, and help coordinating questions among the transplant team.
Key findings
01Patients described the evaluation as overwhelming, with many tests, new information, and uncertainty about timing.
02Patients wanted information tailored to their current stage rather than presented all at once.
03Patients often could not identify which transplant provider they had seen and wanted clearer roles and contact points.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The study was done at one transplant center with 14 patients, so it may not fit other programs or patients with different languages, decision-making capacity, or pregnancy. The participants were not racially and ethnically diverse, so minority patients' experiences are underrepresented. Patients with encephalopathy or limited English or Spanish were excluded, so the findings may not apply to patients who are more cognitively impaired or need other language support. The interviews describe patient experiences and suggestions, not whether any education, communication, or coordination change improved engagement or outcomes. The research team included clinicians from the transplant center, although the interviewers and analysts were not involved in participants' clinical care and had no prior relationship to them.
Declared interests
No funding source is reported. The authors include clinical providers at the transplant center, but the team that recruited, interviewed, and analysed the data was not involved in participants' clinical care and had no prior relationship to the patients.
The easy way to misread this
Do not treat these themes as evidence that a specific transplant education or communication intervention works. The study reports what patients said about their evaluation experience, not whether changing the process improved engagement or outcomes.