Purpose: To explore end-stage-kidney-disease patients' experiences of labour participation, from the kidney failure diagnosis to the post-transplant recovery period.

Methods: A qualitative research design was adopted. Patients with end-stage-kidney-disease who recently underwent transplantation were recruited one to twelve months post-transplant at a university-affiliated hospital in a large urban area. They were interviewed about their illness and work experiences using a semi-structured interview schedule. Based on employment status, 34 of those interviews were selected and were subjected to thematic analysis.

Results: Four themes emerged from the data: “feeling constrained”, “seizing the unknown”, “setting limits”, and “expanding boundaries”. During dialysis, “feeling constrained” entails feeling “put aside” by employers and having limited energy to engage in work activities, and denotes pressure to resume work as well as feelings of inadequacy, following transplantation. “Seizing the unknown” encompass anticipating losses in work function in the pre-transplant period, and entails being concerned about the possibility of accommodations to the work schedule to include the immunosuppressive medication regimen, during the post-transplant period. “Setting personal limits” during dialysis means reducing the workload by delegating and refusing tasks, and includes resuming work gradually and self-imposing rest to maximise future capacities to engage, after the surgery. “Expanding boundaries” mainly encompasses post-transplant experiences of testing one's work capacity through expanding task registry, and is encouraged by feeling supported from colleagues.

Conclusion: Patients were aware of their limitations but deemed important to remain active and engaged across their transplant trajectory, as they put forth various strategies to facilitate their work involvement. They dealt with professional demands by respecting their capabilities, and by negotiating tasks accordingly. Health care professionals might support renal patients by encouraging awareness of their limits to perform work tasks, while prompting them to engage in professional activities within those felt limits.

CITATION INFORMATION: Gaudet K., Achille M. Participation in Paid Work across the Transplant Trajectory from the Perspective of End-Stage-Kidney-Disease Patients Am J Transplant. 2017;17 (suppl 3).

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