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Cancer treatment is increasingly taking place at Ambulatory Cancer Care Units (ACCUs) and nurses must be highly effective attending to patients’ needs during the short chemotherapy encounters. In order to facilitate this specific caring process, having a profound understanding about patients’ experiences of receiving chemotherapy at an ACCU is essential. With the aim of describing the experiences of patients submitted to chemotherapy in an ACCU, a focused ethnographic tradition was followed. Data were collected through participant observation and informal interviews during fieldwork. Three main themes emerged: «the former body», «the present body», and «the future body». Together these themes portray the participants’ experiences preceding chemotherapy, during chemotherapy, and their future planning. The study shows that being cared for at an ACCU triggers the patients’ self-care potential. New models that assist self-care and patient empowerment are required, especially in ambulatory cancer care. Furthermore, having a responsible nurse who follows the treatment trajectory, and maintaining an open and friendly environment allow for a professional proximity between nurses and participants that triumphs above service routines.

MeSH