Organ and tissue donation: a survey of nurse's knowledge and educational needs in an adult ITU

The aim of this paper is to present the results of a survey that was undertaken to assess nurses’ knowledge and educational needs towards organ donation within one adult general intensive care unit. The survey consists of 31 registered nurses who completed a confidential questionnaire that aimed to assess their existing knowledge and deficits in organ and tissue donation. The survey highlights the sample lacked confidence in approaching relatives for donation consent, deficits in brain stem death testing and donor criteria. It was also apparent that a significant number of nurses could not identify which tissues can be donated and the contraindications for tissue donation. A majority of the sample stated their knowledge of donation issues would improve if an educational programme were developed on organ donation. This is further supported by previous work by [Bidigare S, Oermann M, 1991. Attitudes and knowledge of nurses regarding organ procurement. Heart & lung 1:20–3; Smith-Brew S, Yanai L, 1996. The organ donation process through a review of the literature. Part 1. Accident & emergency nursing 4:5–11; Roark D, 2000. Overhauling the organ donation system. Am J Nurs 6:44–9] who suggest that educational programmes covering donation issues should enhance nurses knowledge and confidence in the organ donation process and ultimately increase the number of potential donors.