Radboud Institute for Health Sciences (RIHS), Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Radboud University Medical Center, P.O. Box 9101, 6500HB, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
Radboud Institute for Health Sciences (RIHS), Department of IQ Healthcare, Radboud University Medical Center, P.O. Box 9101, 6500HB, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
Support Care Cancer. 2020 Dec;28(12):5733-5741. doi: 10.1007/s00520-020-05412-1. Epub 2020 Mar 20.
To explore patients' and professionals' experiences with fertility navigators in female oncofertility care.
Semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted with nine female cancer patients and six healthcare professionals to explore their experiences. They were recruited from an academic medical center (referral clinic for female fertility preservation care). Data were analyzed using the concepts of grounded theory.
Patients were satisfied about the supportive role of the fertility navigator in their fertility preservation process: fertility navigators added value as they became "familiar faces" and provided information, emotional support, personal care, and served as patients' primary contact person. The fertility navigators had a pleasant collaboration with professionals and supported professionals by taking over tasks. To improve the role of fertility navigators, it was suggested that they should always be present in fertility preservation counseling, and attention should be paid to their availability to improve continuity of care.
Fertility navigators provide personal care, improve satisfaction in patients in their oncofertility process, and support professionals. The overview of issues that need to be addressed when assigning fertility navigators in female oncofertility care combined with the improvement suggestions could be used by other centers when considering implementing fertility navigators.
探讨患者和专业人员在女性肿瘤生育力保护中的生育导航员体验。
对 9 名女性癌症患者和 6 名医疗保健专业人员进行了半结构化深入访谈，以探讨他们的经验。他们是从一家学术医疗中心（女性生育力保存护理转诊诊所）招募的。使用扎根理论的概念对数据进行了分析。
患者对生育导航员在生育力保护过程中的支持作用感到满意：生育导航员增加了价值，因为他们成为了“熟悉的面孔”，提供了信息、情感支持、个人关怀，并担任了患者的主要联系人。生育导航员与专业人员的合作愉快，并通过承担任务来支持专业人员。为了改善生育导航员的角色，建议他们始终在生育保护咨询中出现，并关注他们的可用性，以改善护理的连续性。
生育导航员提供个人关怀，提高了患者在肿瘤生育力过程中的满意度，并支持专业人员。在为女性肿瘤生育力保护分配生育导航员时需要解决的问题概述以及改进建议可被其他中心在考虑实施生育导航员时使用。
