Knowledge and Concerns for Organ Donation Amongst Nursing Students and Nursing Staff in an Apex Medical Institute in a Metropolitan City

Abstract

BACKGROUNDOrgan donation is one of the greatest advances of modern science. Since the Transplantation of Human Organs Act (THO Act) was passed in India, in 1994, Organ transplant activity was possible from Brain Stem dead donors in India. We have actual organ donation rate for cadaver in India is currently 0.05 per million population. Education programs have recently been suggested as a new approach in solving the organ shortage. This study intends to assess the awareness about organ donation among young Nursing students and staff in a tertiary apex institute in a metropolitan area. Aims and Objectives -To assess the knowledge and address the concerns about organ donation among nursing staff and identifying the de-motivating factors in organ donation and hence to evolve strategies for promotion of organ donation among them. MATERIALS AND METHODSIt was a cross-sectional study, 98 nursing students and nursing staff working in Apex Medical in Metropolitan area who consented to participate in the study were enrolled in this study using universal sampling method. A pretested, semi-structured questionnaire was used to collect information by interview. RESULTSAmong all the 98 participants, 83% participants knew the terminology of organ donation; only 50% participants said that organ can be donated by living donor as well as after death. Only 39% knew about the fact that brain stem death and coma are different; however, their knowledge was inadequate. Only 52% knew that close relative's consent is important before organ donation. About half of the participants (46%) felt that organ donation is accepted by all religions. About 69% participants were found willing to donate their organs after their brain stem death and about 62% were willing to donate their relative's organs. CONCLUSIONNursing staff is the most important caretaker of the patients when patients are indoor or in intensive care units. Though majority of participants were aware of terminology of Organ Donation, they did not have appropriate knowledge regarding the concept.

Opinion of surveyed nurses on transplantation and reasons for negative public attitudes toward organ donation

“…Some of them die while waiting in line. One extremely important factor that contributes to the insufficient number of transplants is the low number of organ donations from deceased donors (3)(4)(5).…”

Knowledge, Attitude, and Performance of ICU, CCU, and Emergency Wards Nurses in Kermanshah, Iran, regarding Organ Donation

“…However, many patients with organ failure die due to organ shortage for transplantation [ 5 ]. Today, the demand for organ transplants is increasing worldwide with an increasing number of those in the waiting list for organ transplantation [ 3 , 6 , 7 ]. Iran is considered as one of 30 countries with high demand for organ donation [ 8 ].…”