The meaning of illness to a long-term survivor.
OBJECTIVE
To review the ways in which cancer survivors find meaning in their illness experiences.


METHODS
Research literature and professional and personal experiences.


CONCLUSIONS
Survivors confront a number of issues as they try to find a place for their cancer experience in their lives and adopt different approaches to cope with their survivorship.


CONCLUSIONS
Nurses can assist cancer survivors to find meaning in their illness experience by understanding the symptoms and issues associated with survival.
Vachon
M L
ML
Departments of Psychiatry and Public Health Sciences, the University of Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
D000328:Adult; D001294:Attitude to Health; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008016:Life Change Events; D008297:Male; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality / Q000451:nursing / Q000523:psychology*; D017741:Survivors / Q000523:psychology*