Role of Empathy and Altruism in Organ Donation Decisionmaking Among Nursing and Paramedic Students

Organ transplantation offers patients with organ failure an improved quality of life and a life-saving opportunity. Despite universal acceptance of posthumous organ donation, only a minority of candidates become actual donors. Empathy and altruism as a moral issues can influence organ donation decisionmaking The aim of this study was to assess the role of empathy and altruism in the organ donation decisionmaking process in a group of nursing and paramedic students. Our study was conducted with 111 nursing and paramedic students (aged 19–59 years, 84 females and 27 males). Self-administered questionnaires were then used to collect data, including the Individual Questionnaire: Study of Attitudes Toward Transplantation; Davis's Interpersonal Reactivity Index (Empathy); and Questionnaire A-N by J. Sliwak (Altruism). Overall, 99% of respondents accepted the idea of organ donation during life and 98% posthumously. Eighty-one percent opted for donating their organ during life and 88% posthumously. The levels of empathy on the subscales Fantasy, Perspective Taking, Personal Distress, and Empathic Concern were significantly associated with agreement to be a donor, willingness to sign a donor card, and attitude toward organ donation. Altruism was associated with posthumous organ donation and the willingness to sign a donor card. Perspective Taking was a statistically significant predictor of attitude toward organ donation. Both empathy and altruism could influence decisionmaking about organ donation in a group of nursing and paramedic students. •Empathy and altruism as a moral issues can influence on organ decision making.•Empathy could have an effect on the influence of benefit perceptions on organ donation decisions by affecting how motivated individuals are incentivized to donate on their own or for others.•Altruism is another variable that is associated with attitudes to organ donation.•A significant relationship has been observed between altruistic motivation and the tendency of people to donate organs.