The paradoxical image of chemotherapy: a phenomenological description of nurses' experiences of administering chemotherapy

A sample of nine nurses who were employed within a haematology ward, a bone marrow transplant unit and a chemotherapy outpatient department of a single hospital Trust in the UK, and who regularly administered cytotoxic chemotherapy were recruited to participate in the study. A qualitative phenomenological design was used with a semi‐structured interview format. The findings revealed a ‘Paradoxical image of chemotherapy’ that was related to the overall damaging effects of chemotherapy where it both serves as a curative treatment and ‘another chance of life’ and also causes damage (morbidity) while it cures. The nurses administering chemotherapy were found to also experience ‘damage’ as a result of seeing the suffering of their patients and being involved in dilemmas regarding administering chemotherapy treatments. The patient experiences are described from the nurses' perspective.