Abstract:
Background: A kidney transplant is the greatest treatment option for people with end-stage renal
disease, but in addition to a higher quality of life, there are additional problems that could interfere
with everyday activities because a kidney transplant necessitates ongoing contact with medical
facilities. A kidney transplant patient will also need to alter their daily routines and engage in
activities like self-checking, medication compliance, good hygiene, and drinking enough fluids. It
was preferable to hear directly from the patients in order to better understand their experiences and
get their opinions on medical care, wellbeing, and life adaptation following transplantation.
The study's aim: This study ‘s aim was to explore the actual experiences of kidney transplant
recipients at a selected referral hospital in Rwanda.
Methodology: In this research, the experiences of kidney transplant recipients were explored. The
phenomenology exploratory qualitative design was used to investigate the kidney transplant
patients ‘experiences. To select and interviewing respondents undergone kidney transplantation,
the Purposive sampling was used. The collection of data was done by using semi-structured
interview guide and the content analysis method was used to analyze the data by the examination
of narrative information to adequately represent every part of each piece of content, data has been
arranged, coded and categorized to describe all aspect of each content and identify key themes.
Results: from the transcripts analysis, five major themes were emerged “Improved quality of life”,
“Emotional challenge”, “Medical management”, “Healthcare system challenge” and “Cross
cultural challenge”.
Conclusion: The kidney transplant patients face many challenges, and the management of
medication is one among the main stressors along with the financial challenges and monthly
hospital visits. The healthcare system should try to provide appropriate support for the kidney
transplant patients for them to maintain the survival of the allograft for a longer period.
