Indian ICU nurses’ perceptions of and attitudes towards organ donation Poreddi Vijayalakshmi, Nagarajaiah, Ramachandra and Suresh Bada Math
Key words: Attitudes ■ Nurses ■ Organ donation ■ India
O
rgan donation is the process of removing tissues or organs from a live, or recently dead, person to be used in another (Wankhede, 2011). Globally, the discipline of transplantation is achieving new heights in modern medicine (Ashar, 2013). Improvements in surgical techniques, advances in postoperative care, the introduction of effective organ-preservation solutions and the development of sophisticated immunosuppressants have all contributed to improved outcomes for recipients of organ and tissue transplants (UKTransplant, 2006). However, organ donation is still a relatively fledgling concept in India, as people are still grappling with its moral, social, religious, economic, commercial and other implications
Poreddi Vijayalakshmi, Clinical Instructor; Nagarajaiah, Former Additional Professor; Ramachandra, Additional Professor; and Suresh Bada Math, Additional Professor; all at College of Nursing, Department of Nursing, National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences, Bangalore, India Accepted for publication: June 2015
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(Grover, 2013). The Government of India passed the Transplantation of Human Organs Act [1994] which was further amended in 2011 to simplify the procedure of organ donation. A Delhi news reporter declared in 2013 that India was facing an acute organ donation crisis: ‘It is distressing that many individuals in India die yearly while waiting for an organ transplant. In 2013, there were 25 000 solid organ candidates waiting in India, but only 110 donors in the country.’ (Chakrabarty, 2013) However, the process of organ and tissue donation after brain death within the criticalcare environment is significant for nurses involved in caring for patients on mechanical ventilation. Published documents have demonstrated that the willingness of health professionals to participate in the donation process can improve the donation rate. In addition, several studies measured knowledge and attitudes towards organ donation among intensive care unit (ICU) staff (Floden et al, 2006; Pellerlaux et al, 2008; Sharp, 2009; Alghanim, 2010; Jacoby and Jaccard, 2010;
Materials and methods This cross-sectional survey conducted among those nurses directly involved in patient care at a tertiary care hospital in South India. A non-probability convenience sample with quantitative descriptive design was adopted for the present study. Inclusion criteria consisted of nurses who are: ■■ Working in ICUs (medical, surgical and emergency) ■■ Employed full-time in direct patient care on patient units ■■ Employed at the hospital at least 6 months ■■ Registered nurses (RNs) ■■ Willing to participate. The exclusion criteria were part-time employees and nurses who were not willing to participate. Of the questionnaires individually distributed to a sample of 215 nurses, 184 were returned, resulting in a response rate of 85.6%.
Questionnaire The questionnaire has two parts.The first part was intended to elicit the nurses’ sociodemographic information such as background, age, gender, religion, designation, marital status, professional qualification and work experience. This part of the questionnaire also measured respondents’ experiences of caring for a brain-dead patient on mechanical ventilation, participation in discussions about organ donation with relatives, personal experience of organ donation and organ transplantation, whether organ donation violates human rights, promotion of organ donation, awareness of national or international legislation
© 2015 MA Healthcare Ltd
Abstract
Nurses play a significant role in identifying and securing potential organ donors in the clinical environment. Research among Indian nurses related to organ donation is sparse. The present study aimed to investigate nurses’ attitudes towards organ donation. A cross-sectional descriptive survey was carried out among nurses (n=184) at a tertiary care centre. Data were collected through self-report questionnaire. A majority (81%) of the respondents were ‘willing to sign the card’ for organ donation; however, only 3.8% (n=7) of them actually ‘signed the organ donation card’. There were significant associations found between intentions to sign the organ donation card and gender (x2=5.852; p
Key words: Attitudes ■ Nurses ■ Organ donation ■ India
O
rgan donation is the process of removing tissues or organs from a live, or recently dead, person to be used in another (Wankhede, 2011). Globally, the discipline of transplantation is achieving new heights in modern medicine (Ashar, 2013). Improvements in surgical techniques, advances in postoperative care, the introduction of effective organ-preservation solutions and the development of sophisticated immunosuppressants have all contributed to improved outcomes for recipients of organ and tissue transplants (UKTransplant, 2006). However, organ donation is still a relatively fledgling concept in India, as people are still grappling with its moral, social, religious, economic, commercial and other implications
Poreddi Vijayalakshmi, Clinical Instructor; Nagarajaiah, Former Additional Professor; Ramachandra, Additional Professor; and Suresh Bada Math, Additional Professor; all at College of Nursing, Department of Nursing, National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences, Bangalore, India Accepted for publication: June 2015
694
(Grover, 2013). The Government of India passed the Transplantation of Human Organs Act [1994] which was further amended in 2011 to simplify the procedure of organ donation. A Delhi news reporter declared in 2013 that India was facing an acute organ donation crisis: ‘It is distressing that many individuals in India die yearly while waiting for an organ transplant. In 2013, there were 25 000 solid organ candidates waiting in India, but only 110 donors in the country.’ (Chakrabarty, 2013) However, the process of organ and tissue donation after brain death within the criticalcare environment is significant for nurses involved in caring for patients on mechanical ventilation. Published documents have demonstrated that the willingness of health professionals to participate in the donation process can improve the donation rate. In addition, several studies measured knowledge and attitudes towards organ donation among intensive care unit (ICU) staff (Floden et al, 2006; Pellerlaux et al, 2008; Sharp, 2009; Alghanim, 2010; Jacoby and Jaccard, 2010;
Materials and methods This cross-sectional survey conducted among those nurses directly involved in patient care at a tertiary care hospital in South India. A non-probability convenience sample with quantitative descriptive design was adopted for the present study. Inclusion criteria consisted of nurses who are: ■■ Working in ICUs (medical, surgical and emergency) ■■ Employed full-time in direct patient care on patient units ■■ Employed at the hospital at least 6 months ■■ Registered nurses (RNs) ■■ Willing to participate. The exclusion criteria were part-time employees and nurses who were not willing to participate. Of the questionnaires individually distributed to a sample of 215 nurses, 184 were returned, resulting in a response rate of 85.6%.
Questionnaire The questionnaire has two parts.The first part was intended to elicit the nurses’ sociodemographic information such as background, age, gender, religion, designation, marital status, professional qualification and work experience. This part of the questionnaire also measured respondents’ experiences of caring for a brain-dead patient on mechanical ventilation, participation in discussions about organ donation with relatives, personal experience of organ donation and organ transplantation, whether organ donation violates human rights, promotion of organ donation, awareness of national or international legislation
© 2015 MA Healthcare Ltd
Abstract
Nurses play a significant role in identifying and securing potential organ donors in the clinical environment. Research among Indian nurses related to organ donation is sparse. The present study aimed to investigate nurses’ attitudes towards organ donation. A cross-sectional descriptive survey was carried out among nurses (n=184) at a tertiary care centre. Data were collected through self-report questionnaire. A majority (81%) of the respondents were ‘willing to sign the card’ for organ donation; however, only 3.8% (n=7) of them actually ‘signed the organ donation card’. There were significant associations found between intentions to sign the organ donation card and gender (x2=5.852; p
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