The organ procurement problem: many causes, no easy solutions

Merz, Beverly

doi:10.1001/jama.1985.03360230015002

“…It is suggested that education packages would help to address the present issue that many staff do not feel that they have suf®cient training to approach families at this stressful time (Wakeford & Stepney 1989). Education should also help to in¯uence the attitudes held by health professionals towards organ donation (Matten et al 1991), improve staff comfort levels, and their willingness to approach families (Merz 1985, Matten et al 1991, Dettle et al 1994. Incorporated into this teaching, health professionals also need to be made aware of the donor family experience and the possible bene®ts that organ donation may provide (Stark et al 1984, Norris 1991.…”

Section: Managing the Systemmentioning

confidence: 99%

English nursing and medical students’ attitudes towards organ donation

Cantwell¹

2000

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The purpose of the study reported in this paper was to examine nursing and medical students' attitudes towards organ and corneal donation. A sample of 72 nursing and medical degree students from a British University, completed a 61-item self-administered quantitative questionnaire, adapted by Kent and Owens (1995) from an original tool devised by Parisi and Katz (1986). The findings revealed that all but one of the respondents had an overall positive attitude towards organ donation; a significant relationship was found to exist between the extent of this positive attitude held by each student and their personal willingness to donate organs. In total, 74% of the student nurses had already signed a donor card, compared to only 43% of the medical students, and the difference in the two groups' personal commitment towards donation was significant (P = 0.005). However, this disparity between the nursing and medical students was not evident when students were questioned about personally accepting organs, for survival. Most respondents agreed that they would take some form of transplanted organ or tissue into their body, if it was needed to maintain life. Overall, the study revealed that although this group of student nurses seem to be in favour of organ donation, with many willing to sign a donor card, doubts still exist in the medical student group. Further work is required to understand this phenomena. A comparison of the data with an earlier study completed by Kent and Owens (1995) indicate that student nurses may have a more positive orientation to donation than qualified staff.

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“…Education should also help to influence the attitudes held by health professionals towards organ donation (Matten et al . 1991), improve staff comfort levels, and their willingness to approach families (Merz 1985, Matten et al . 1991, Dettle et al .…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

English nursing and medical students’ attitudes towards organ donation

Cantwell

¹

,

Clifford

²

2000

Journal of Advanced Nursing

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The purpose of the study reported in this paper was to examine nursing and medical students' attitudes towards organ and corneal donation. A sample of 72 nursing and medical degree students from a British University, completed a 61-item self-administered quantitative questionnaire, adapted by Kent and Owens (1995) from an original tool devised by Parisi and Katz (1986). The findings revealed that all but one of the respondents had an overall positive attitude towards organ donation; a significant relationship was found to exist between the extent of this positive attitude held by each student and their personal willingness to donate organs. In total, 74% of the student nurses had already signed a donor card, compared to only 43% of the medical students, and the difference in the two groups' personal commitment towards donation was significant (P = 0.005). However, this disparity between the nursing and medical students was not evident when students were questioned about personally accepting organs, for survival. Most respondents agreed that they would take some form of transplanted organ or tissue into their body, if it was needed to maintain life. Overall, the study revealed that although this group of student nurses seem to be in favour of organ donation, with many willing to sign a donor card, doubts still exist in the medical student group. Further work is required to understand this phenomena. A comparison of the data with an earlier study completed by Kent and Owens (1995) indicate that student nurses may have a more positive orientation to donation than qualified staff.

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“…The major obstacle to organ transplantation today is the limited organ supply [1,2]. Consequently, many people die each year while on organ transplantation waiting lists because the organ supply falls short of demand [3].…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Improving the Approach to Organ Donation: A Review

Jenkins

¹

,

Reilly

²

,

Schwab

³

1999

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Organ transplantation continues to be hindered by a limited supply of organs. A significant percentage of potential organ donors are lost to either medical failure or inability to obtain consent for donation. In a surgical intensive care unit (ICU) we have refocused our efforts toward aggressive resuscitation, directed by control of coagulopathy, invasive monitoring, and dedicated ICU management while implementing a rapid brain death determination protocol. Over a 6-year period the length of stay until the legal determination of brain death is made has been significantly shortened (12.0 vs. 3.4 hours; p < 0.05), as have associated charges despite this more aggressive approach. As a result, we have eliminated medical failures prior to donation (13% vs. 0%) and increased consent rates (44% vs. 71%; p < 0.05). These efforts have significantly improved the number of organs harvested per eligible donor (1.8 vs. 3.4; p < 0.05). In addition, the number of organs per actual donor has increased and is now markedly greater than the U.S. national average (4.7 vs. 3.7). We believe the approach presented, if widely applied, could potentially improve the current organ supply shortage.

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The organ procurement problem: many causes, no easy solutions

Cited by 20 publications

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English nursing and medical students’ attitudes towards organ donation

English nursing and medical students’ attitudes towards organ donation

English nursing and medical students’ attitudes towards organ donation

Improving the Approach to Organ Donation: A Review

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