Would you like to save a life? Would you like to be a hero? The time to be a hero could be right now, it is as simple as signing up to become an organ donor. Simple questions with a yes or no answer, yet so many people choose not to sign up. When most hear organ donation they are either for it or against it. Organ donation is considered to be the gift of life and it is a selfless act that many people appreciate. An organ donor allows another person at a second chance in life. An organ can fail at any moment and it happens when a person least expects it. Each day the wait list for an organ grows rapidly and there are not enough donors. A person could wait up to several days, weeks, months, or even years. That person then has to basically live off of a machine until a perfect organ match is found. Despite health concerns and myths, everyone should be an organ donor because of the major shortage of organs needed. Each day more and more people are added to the wait list and yet there are not enough organ donors to help. There are several people waiting for an organ to be donated. This number grows each and every day and the person in need of that organ lives in fear and hopes that they will find a match. Families live in fear because no one wants to lose a loved one. Also hearing the news that someone needs an organ is just as scary. Many people do realize that once a person has a failing organ they could be on the verge of death. People pass away from organ failure rather than any other cause of death like a car accident or even another illness. When an organ donor is found for the person in need of it, the feeling is great except for the fact of other complications. Organ failure is a nightmare that families take in first bef... ... middle of paper ... ...fe within the near future. Works Cited Judson, Karen. Medical Ethics Life and Death Issues. New Jersey: Enslow Publishers, Inc., 2001. Print. "Key Events in the History of Organ Donation (sidebar)." Issues & Controversies. Facts On File News Services, 28 June 2010. Web. 21 Nov. 2013. Mantel, Barbara. "Organ Donations." CQ Researcher 15 Apr. 2011: 337-60. Web. 20 Nov. 2013. “Organ Donation” Issues & Controversies. Facts on File News Services, 28 June 2010. Web. 15 Nov 2013. Senk, Madelyn. “Donate an Organ, Save a Life.” VFW Magazine. June/July 2004: 20-22. SIRS Issue Researcher. Web. 20 Nov 2013. The Ultimate Gift. 2006. The Wall Street Journal. Dow Jones & Company, Inc. Web. 17 Dec. 2013 United States Health Resources & Services Administration. Why Organ, Eye, and Tissue Donation?. 2013 Web. 3 Dec. 2013.
According to Saunders, the primary value of organ donation is instrumental rather than expressive. Saunders goes on to discuss that from an instrumental perspective, what matters is
With deaths occurring everyday due to a lack of organ donation, this tragic situation could possibly be rectified by educating the public about organ donation by revealing stories behind successuful transplants and the reality that organ donation is truly giving
Wolfe, R., Merion, R., Roys, E., & Port, F. (2009). Trends in Organ Donation and Transplantation in the United States, 1998-2007. American Journal of Transplantation , 9, 869-878.
7. Spielman, B. (ed.) 1996. Organ and Tissue Donation; Ethical, legal, and policy issues. Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press.
Now imagine if it were you, that needed a liver, heart, or other organ transplant. You want to live to see so much more in life, but you did not get on the list in time and there is a shortage in organ donors. You must say good bye to life, your loved ones and every thing else. This is not a good thing to imagine, yet people die everyday with this feeling.
Organ donation myths have been around for a long time. These types of myths have stopped people from being organ donors as well as stopping families from letting there loved one receive a needed organ transplant. These myths are one of the main reasons for the organ shortage in the United States today. While some people decide to save another humans life some do not because of these myths surrounding organ donation. One person has the opportunity to save up to fifty lives just by deciding to be an organ donor and doing so would help with the organ shortage in the United States.
Each and every day there are as many as 79 people receiving organ donations that will change their life, but on the other hand there are many people who die from failed organs while they are waiting for transplants that never happen for them (U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, 2016). People find out that one, or even several of their organs are failing and they are put on a list to receive a transplant with no intended time frame or guarantee. Organ transplants are an essential tool when it comes to saving someone’s life from a failing organ; the history of organ transplants, organ donation, and the preceding factors of organ failure all play a very important role in organ transplant in the United States.
The National Organ Transplant act was enacted in 1984 as a free market for organs began to arise in America. Congress was concerned about the injustice that could arise from impoverished donors being pressured into selling their organs (Ci...
You are all in luck. Becoming an organ donor, you are entitled to be able to say, “I will save a life”.
The up-to-date medical advancement has come a long way, including making it possible for donating one’s major organs, blood, and tissues to desperate individuals needing them to sustain life. Organ donation still has problems even with the modern technology and breakthroughs. The majority of individuals need to comprehend to have a successful organ transplant it is essential to have active individuals that are willing to donate their organs. Typically, most individuals or family that consent to donate their precious organ 's desire life to continue. Their intentions are when one life is gone there is hope for another life to continue. Health care is experiencing a shortage in organ donation and the people that desperately need these organs
Gedge, E., & Waluchow, W. (2012). Readings in health care ethics (2nd ed.). Toronto, Ontario: Broadview Press.
It is clear that a large demand for organs exists. People in need of organ donations are transferred to an orderly list. Ordinarily, U.S. institutions have an unprofitable system which provides organs through a list of individuals with the highest needs; however, these organs may never come. A list is
McGee, Glenn and Arthur L. Caplan. "Medical Ethics." Microsoft® Encarta® 98 Encyclopedia. © 1993-1997: Microsoft Corporation. CD-ROM.
One of the most important and prevalent issues in healthcare discussed nowadays is the concern of the organ donation shortage. As the topic of organ donation shortages continues to be a growing problem, the government and many hospitals are also increasingly trying to find ways to improve the number of organ donations. In the United States alone, at least 6000 patients die each year while on waiting lists for new organs (Petersen & Lippert-Rasmussen, 2011). Although thousands of transplant candidates die from end-stage diseases of vital organs while waiting for a suitable organ, only a fraction of eligible organ donors actually donate. Hence, the stark discrepancy in transplantable organ supply and demand is one of the reasons that exacerbate this organ donation shortage (Parker, Winslade, & Paine, 2002). In the past, many people sought the supply of transplantable organs from cadaver donors. However, when many ethical issues arose about how to determine whether someone is truly dead by either cardiopulmonary or neurological conditions (Tong, 2007), many healthcare professionals and transplant candidates switched their focus on obtaining transplantable organs from living donors instead. As a result, in 2001, the number of living donors surpassed the number of cadaver donors for the first time (Tong, 2007).
Each day approximately 6,300 people die and what makes this haunting is that presently there are 83,513 people waiting for organs to be donated, yet each day 17 people die because they do not receive a transplant (http://www.donatelife.net/facts_stats.html). These statistics show that people who are waiting for organ transplants have a good chance at being saved and get what they need. The sad truth is though, because of the lack of people willing to donate organs, many people will continue to wait for organs to save their lives. ?Waiting lists of patients for organ transplants become longer as the need for transplantable organs increases? (Sheehy 1). Think back to how someone might feel when a close family member or friend dies. With out argument, the feeling one experiences when going through a time like that is one of the most painful experiences. The feeling when one gets when they know that they will never again see the person you loved so much, never hold them, touch them, experience their presence. It is a horrible feeling. What many do not realize is simply by donating organs, you can help someone else not have to deal with that pain.