Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation Empowerment Program (HSCT-EP)

Research design: Quasi-experimental pre\post research design using control group will be utilized.

This study will be conducted in stem cell transplantation unite at Oncology Center affiliated to Mansoura University Hospitals.

A purposive sample will be recruited from the previously mentioned setting according to the following criteria:

• Conscious, adult patients at the age of 20-60 years from both genders.
• Able to communicate verbally and exhibited a willingness to participate in the

The study sample will be randomly divided into two equal groups as follow:

• The control group who will receive standard hospital care only.
• The study group who will receive standard hospital care in addition to an empowerment program that includes education, counseling, and support.

Data collection process:

Phase I: Preparatory phase:

• An Ethical approval will be obtained from the Research Scientific Ethical Committee of the Faculty of Nursing, Mansoura University.
• An official written permission to carry out the study will be obtained from the responsible authorities of the oncology center in Mansoura University Hospital, to obtain his approval to conduct the study after an explanation of the purpose of the study.
• The researcher will meet the health care providers including nursing staff of the stem cell transplantation unit to coordinate the study process that will be conducted among patients.

Phase II: The operational phase/ Filed work:

The framework of the study will be carried out in four stages as the following:

1. Assessment phase:

   • Once the necessary permission will be granted to proceed with the proposed study, the patients who will undergo SCT and who met the sampling criteria and agreed to participate in the study will be interviewed at SCT unit of the oncology center by the researcher to collect the necessary data pertinent to the study.
   • Pretest assessment will be performed at the beginning of the study and consider as base line data for latter comparison with future posttest. Each patient of both control and study groups will be interviewed individually by researcher in the 1st week before applying the planned empowerment program to collect the baseline data using all the study tools.
   • Data collection will be started by assessing demographic data, health-relevant data, through interviewing with each patient using the tool I.
   • The researcher will assess the patient's Knowledge using the tool II to assess the educational needs of each patient to consider it when preparing the empowerment program.
   • The researcher will assess the patient's self-practice using the tool III. Every patient will be observed to collect data of observational check list during the morning and afternoon shift.

2. Planning phase:

   - Based on the findings of the assessment phase, the researcher will design the proposed empowerment program in a simple Arabic language after reviewing recent relevant literatures.

3. Implementation phase:

   • The study sample will be divided into control and study groups. Study group (A) who will receive routine care in addition to empowerment program, while control group (B) who will receive routine care only.
   • In study group (A) the empowerment program for patients undergoing SCT will be implemented in a slow speed, regular rhythm and depths:
   • The empowerment program sessions will take 30-45 minutes on the average.
   • Each patient will have 3-4 sessions of the empowerment program in pre-transplant period.
   • The content of the program will included an educational and a training component. The educational part will consisted of stem cell transplantation procedure, advantages and risks, preparatory instructions for SCT, symptoms management, complications of SCT, and post -SCT follow up instructions. Practical or training part will include (hand and oral hygiene, early ambulation, etc).
4. Evaluation phase:

The final step of data collection is evaluating the patient's response to the proposed program and the extent to which the outcomes have been achieved.

• Posttest assessment will carry out after implementation of the empowerment program to identify its impact on patient's knowledge and clinical outcomes by use tool II, III & tool IV for both groups.
• Follow up assessment will carry out after three months to identify the impact of the empowerment program on patient's knowledge and clinical outcomes using the study tools.

Ethical consideration: All relevant possible aspects will be considered. Written consent will be obtained from each patient enrolled in the study after providing comprehensive information about the nature of the study, aim, benefits and risks. The researcher will emphasize that participation is absolutely voluntary. Participants will be informed that they have the right to refuse to participate in the study and withdrawn at any time and the refusal to participate in the study will not affect their care. Anonymity, privacy, safety, and confidentiality will be assure