Nurses and Organ Donation

All over the world and in the United States, there remains a huge gap between the number of people waiting for donated organs to save their lives and the number of organs available to be donated (Beil, 2013). Nurses play an important role in the organ donation process because they are usually the first ones to identify a potential organ donor from providing nursing care to that person (Manuel, Solberg, & MacDonald, 2010). Nurses also are responsible for providing families with pertinent information regarding organ donation, taking the step to question the family if they would like to donate their loved ones’ organs or making the referral to someone who specializes in organ donation when the situation is appropriate, supporting the family whether or not they choose to donate their loved ones’ organs, and taking the steps to preserve potential organs to be donated when the family agrees to organ donation.

Studies have been done to provide an insight into how nurses feel about the organ donation process and what they believe their role is as a practicing nurse in organ donation situations. When it comes to most practicing nurses around the world, a vast majority of them are unaware of their role in the organ donation process and how they would even start the process if they were put in the situation that requires them to do so (Jelinek, Marck, Weiland, Neate, & Hickey, 2012). These studies also help identify potential solutions, such as more nursing education and understanding families’ experiences with agreeing to organ donation, that can help nurses become more comfortable in identifying potential organs donors and going forward with the process to help decrease the gap between the number of needed organs and the number of av...

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...ipation of intensive care unit nurses to promote deceased donor organ donation. Transplantation Proceedings 42(3), 716-718. doi: 10.1016/j.transproceed.2010.03.022

Manuel, A., Solberg, S., & MacDonald, S. (2010). Organ Donation Experiences Of Family Members. Nephrology Nursing Journal, 37(3), 229-236. Retrieved from https://www.annanurse.org/nnj

Meyer, K., Bjørk, I., & Eide, H. (2012). Intensive care nurses' perceptions of their professional competence in the organ donor process: A national survey. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 68(1), 104-115. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2648.2011.05721.x

Roels, L., Spaight, C., Smits, J., & Cohen, B. (2010). Critical care staffs’ attitudes, confidence levels and educational needs correlate with countries’ donation rates: Data from the donor action database. Transplant International, 23(8), 842-850. doi: 10.1111/j.1432-2277.2010.01065.x