Experience of Uncertainty: A Phenomenological Study Among Kidney Transplant Recipients

The experience of uncertainty which is the phenomenon of the research study strengthens the kidney transplant recipients to live despite many overwhelming circumstances and challenges encountered with their health conditions, families, relatives, people around, and the material things necessary for their survival and existence. The study was conducted with the aim of exploring and understanding the essences of the experience of uncertainty in a phenomenological study among kidney transplant recipients. Uncertainty in Illness Theory explained that people with health issues face the phenomenon of uncertainty. The study was established with the work of Ricouer’s hermeneutic phenomenology, and his approach was utilized as the methodology of analysis. A snowball sampling was utilized in identifying and recruiting the eight (8) participants following the criteria for selection that was set. An online interview through messenger was conducted in Cebuano, Tagalog and English languages, and was recorded and transcribed for data analysis. Utilizing the Ricouer’s Hermeneutic Approach, the findings of the research study were analyzed and interpreted. Based on the five (5) existential lifeworlds of Van Manen (2014) the main themes were developed and categorized as lived body (corporeality), lived thing (materiality), lived space (spatiality), lived self/others (relationality) and lived time (temporality). The research study revealed five main themes which gave meaning to the kidney transplant recipients. These are the wearying encounter (lived body), pressing needs (lived thing), frightening encounter (lived space), conflicting encounter (lived self/others) and distrusting moment (lived time). The study concluded that the experience of uncertainty is an existential phenomenon. Thus, the phenomenon of uncertainty by people who went through major operations like organ transplantation needs a thorough understanding by the people in the healthcare industry.