Heart transplants are a major event for patients and their significant others. According to the U.S. Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN) and the Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients (SRTR), 11,469 heart transplants have occurrred from January through May 2012. The purpose of this study was to explore the lived experience of a heart transplant recipient’s initial conscious awareness post-surgery, to better understand the emotional impact of receiving a heart from a another person. The focus was the patient’s recall of their first conscious awareness that another person’s heart is in their body.
