Determination of the psychiatric symptoms and psychological resilience levels of hematopoietic stem cell transplant patients and their relatives D. ÇUHADAR, PHD, RN, ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, Department of Psychiatric Nursing, Health Science Faculty, Gaziantep University, Gaziantep, D. TANRIVERDI, PHD, RN, ASSOCI ˙ ATE PROFESSOR, Department of Psychiatric Nursing, Health Science Faculty, Gaziantep University, Gaziantep, M. PEHLIVAN, MD, PROFESSOR, DOCTOR, Department of Internal Medicine, Hematology, Gaziantep University Medical School, Gaziantep, G. KURNAZ, RN, NURSE, Bone Marrow Transplantation Unit, Gaziantep University, Medical School Hospital, Gaziantep, & S. ALKAN, RN, NURSE, Bone Marrow Transplantation Unit, Gaziantep University, Medical School Hospital, Gaziantep, Turkey ÇUHADAR D., TANRIVERDI D., PEHLIVAN M., KURNAZ G. & ALKAN S. (201 ) European Journal of Cancer Care Determination of the psychiatric symptoms and psychological resilience levels of hematopoietic stem cell transplant patients and their relatives This study was performed to evaluate psychiatric symptoms and resilience levels of the hematopoietic stem cell transplant patients and their relatives. The study enrolled 51 patients and 45 relatives undergoing bone marrow transplantation. Data were collected using Personal Information Form, Brief Symptom Inventory and Resilience Scale for Adults. Psychiatric symptoms of both patients and their relatives were negatively asso- ciated with resilience levels. Patients and their relatives with a higher degree of resilience showed a lower degree of psychiatric symptoms. The study results demonstrate that haematopoietic stem cell transplantation is a process that affects patients as well as their families. We suggest that patients and their family members be evaluated for psychiatric symptoms by nurses during this process and resilience level of patients be increased by helping them improve their coping and problem-solving skills for adaptation throughout the process. Keywords: haematopoietic stem cell transplantation, resilience, psychiatric symptoms, nursing. INTRODUCTION Haematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) is a frequently applied treatment for a host of malignant haematological cancers with significant morbidity and mortality, such as acute leukaemia, lymphomas, multiple myeloma, as well as severe aplastic anaemia (Pillay et al. 2012; Janicsak et al. 2013). HSCT can either be autologous (patient’s own stem cells) or allogeneic (donor stem cells) and donors can be unrelated volunteers or relative of the donors most commonly siblings of the patients (Pillay et al. 2012). Allogeneic stem cell transplantation is a type of treatment to give haematopoietic stem cells taken from a healthy donor to the recipient in order to kill malignant cells after high dose chemotherapy. Autologous stem cell transplantation is a type of treatment to give bone marrow is taken from the person himself or separated from periph- eral blood stem cell after high dose chemotherapy (Kapucu & Karaca 2008). HSCT offers a potential cure for some patients the treatments also life threatening and intro- duces many side effects (Beattie & Lebel 2011). These side effects following HSCT include acute and chronic graft versus host disease (GVHD), recurrent and secondary Correspondence address: Döndü Çuhadar, Department of Psychiatric Nursing, Health Science Faculty, Gaziantep University, 27310, S ¸ ehitkamil, Gaziantep, Turkey (e-mail: donducuhadar@hotmail.com). Accepted 18 June 2014 DOI: 10.1111/ecc.12219 Original article © 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd 6 25, 112–121 European Journal of Cancer Care, 2016, 25, 112–121