Factors Affecting Attitude Toward Organ Donation Among Nursing Students in Warsaw, Poland

Assessing Medical Students' Perspectives on Organ Donation: A Cross-Sectional Study

Background Organ donation is a community service that not only saves lives but also improves the quality of life. The major concerns causing organ shortage in the country are the lack of awareness and correct knowledge among the public and myths and misconceptions clouding organ donation because of religious and cultural barriers. Material and methods A cross-sectional study was conducted among 300 medical students of a private medical college in the Telangana region, India, from July 2019 to October 2019 after approval from the Institutional Ethics Committee (IEC). A total of 300 participants (218 females (72.66%) and 82 males (27.33%)) were included in the study. Respondents completed a three-section questionnaire that included sociodemographic data, 15 questions on knowledge, and 12 questions on the attitude and ethical aspects of organ donation. Statistical tests utilized for investigation were the Student's t-test and one-way ANOVA to compare knowledge and attitude scores. Results The mean knowledge score among the participants was 10.85±1.79, with a P value of 0.45. The mean attitude score concerning organ donation among the participants was 45.5±4.47, with a P value of 0.44. The majority (87.1%) showed a positive attitude in this study. Conclusions The study emphasizes the necessity of interdisciplinary educational interventions for medical students to help them realize the complexities of the problem holistically. Their attitude regarding organ donation is not significantly affected by traditional educational interventions such as lectures and demonstrations. Educated healthcare professionals will play a critical role in motivating the public for the cause of organ donation promotion.

The Willingness to Donate Organs in Medical Students From an International Perspective: A Meta-Analysis

Attitude toward organ donation mobilizes donation behavior and makes transplant surgery possible. As future health professionals, medical students will be a relevant generating opinion group and will have an important role in the organ requesting process. The goals of this meta-analysis were to obtain polled rates of medical students who are in favor, against, or indecisive toward cadaveric organ donation in the studies conducted around the world, and to explore sociocultural variables influencing the willingness to donate. Electronic search and revision of references from previous literature allowed us to locate 57 studies fulfilling the inclusion criteria. Data extraction and risk of bias assessment were performed by two independent investigators. Pooled estimations were computed assuming a random-effects model. Despite the fact that willingness to donate was elevated in medical students, estimated rates in studies from different geographical areas and sociocultural backgrounds exhibited significant differences. The age and the grade of the students also influenced the rate of students in favor. Donation campaigns should take into account cultural factors, especially in countries where certain beliefs and values could hamper organ donation. Also, knowledge and skills related to organ donation and transplant should be acquired early in the medical curriculum when a negative attitude is less resistant to change.

The Knowledge of Nursing Students About Organ Donation and the Effect of the Relevant Training on Their Knowledge

BACKGROUND

The positive attitude of nursing students toward organ donation will affect the number of transplantations to be performed in the future. This study was conducted to determine the knowledge of the students studying at Kafkas University Faculty of Health Sciences Nursing Department on organ donation and the effect of the relevant training on their knowledge.

METHOD

This study with a pretest-post-test design was completed with 352 nursing department students in the 2016-2017 academic year. A total of 45 minutes of structured training was provided to the students by a physician who was trained and experienced on organ transplantation. A pretest and post-test form was used to evaluate the knowledge of the students before and after the training, respectively. Data were analyzed by evaluating the numbers, percentages, and significance of the difference between 2 percentages in the SPSS 20 software.

RESULTS

The mean age of the students was 21.25 ± 1.89 years; 52% were male, 31.8% were first-year students. We found that a relative of 6.5% of the students was waiting for an organ and the ethnic identity did not affect the decision of organ donation in 69.9%. When asked about who could be organ donors, 71.9% of the students answered as cadaver and living donors where blood and tissues were found to be a match, 33.5% as the first-degree relatives of the patient, and 18.5% as cadaver donors. Head trauma-related brain death was the most common answer to "In which case can organs be taken?" at 75.9%. The percentage of students stating that the donor can donate his or her organs in accordance with the law while he or she is healthy and that organ donation can be made with the consent of the family after death was 67.9%. We found that the students' wish to donate their organs and their knowledge on where and how to make an organ donation and how to get official approval increased significantly as a result of this training in addition to the number of those who had no reservations regarding brain death.

CONCLUSION

We recommend providing nursing students regular training on organ donation with various training methods and conducting further studies on the subject.

Narrative review on attitudes toward organ donation of undergraduate nurse students

AIM

We aimed at obtaining suggestions to increase the number of organ donations by conducting a meta-analysis of researches on attitudes toward organ donation for nurse undergraduates around the world.

METHODS

We looked for documents published by April 2017 using CINAHL, MEDLINE, Japan Medical Abstract Society, CiNii, and PsycINFO. We searched for English and Japanese literature including all terms of "attitude", "students", "nursing", "Tissue and Organ Procurement", "organ donation". This study was carried out based on the Prisma Statement 2010.

RESULTS

As a result of the search, six CINAHLs, 45 MEDLINEs, seven Japan Medical Abstract Society articles were extracted, but no papers from CiNii and PsycINFO. We extracted and analyzed 21 original papers including contents of organ donation, targeting nurse undergraduates, which also excluding scale development.

Opinions and Attitudes of Medical Students About Organ Donation and Transplantation

BACKGROUND

Although transplantation has gained more support and acceptance, there are still many ethical, moral, and legal barriers associated with this form of treatment. The demand for organs is higher than what can be accommodated. Current medical students are forming their views about transplantation.

METHODS

The aim of this study was to investigate the perspectives of 569 students from the Faculty of Medicine, Medical University of Bialystok, Poland, with regard to their beliefs about organ donation.

RESULTS

Respondents included in this study were 21.77 ± 2.03 years of age (73.6% female, 80.1% living in an urban setting). Organ procurement and transplantation from living donors was found to be acceptable by 97.54% of respondents, and 98.77% found deceased donor procurement to be acceptable. More than 90% of respondents agreed with organ donation from family members after death, and agreed to donation after their own death. However, only 54.77% indicated an agreement to donate in their lifetime for nonrelatives. It was found that 70.74% believe the final decision on cadaveric organ donation should be made by the family. A positive attitude toward organ transplantation was expressed by 96.47% of respondents, but 2% submitted an objection to placement on a central registry. Refusals for organ donation included emotions associated with death (88%), religious beliefs (42%), and lack of knowledge of medical terminology (24.78%). According to respondents, the concept of transplantation should be managed by patients and donors (65.38%), universities (49.56%), or the media (44.64%).

CONCLUSION

Medical students generally agree on procurement of organs from deceased and living donors. However, their enthusiasm for organ donation after death diminished with regard to their family members. An educational campaign promoting organ transplantation should be considered.

Does Having a Relative in Dialysis Therapy Affect Attitudes Toward Kidney Donating?

CONTEXT

The majority of kidney transplants in Turkey are performed from live donors and from those among first-degree relatives.

OBJECTIVE

To compare the view points and the attitudes of individuals who have relatives undergoing dialysis toward kidney donation treatment with those who do not.

DESIGN

The study was designed as a descriptive study, which used simple random sampling.

SETTING

The sample consisted of 204 individuals, divided into 2 groups: those whose relatives underwent dialysis treatment (group A, n = 106) and those whose relatives did not (group B, n = 98).

RESULTS

The means of the total points obtained in "Kidney Donation Attitude Inventory" (KDAI) by individuals in group A were statistically significantly higher than those obtained by individuals in group B ( P = .001). Although there was a statistically significant difference in the educational status, status of willing to donate their kidneys and being a relative of an individual awaiting a kidney transplant, and the mean total points obtained from the KDAI between the groups ( P < .05), no statistically significant difference was determined between the means of the obtained total points and the gender and the duration of dialysis treatment ( P > .05).

CONCLUSION

The attitudes of the relatives of individuals undergoing dialysis treatment toward kidney donation were determined to be more positive.

Fresh osteochondral allografts-procurement and tissue donation in Europe

Fresh osteochondral allografts are a well-established treatment for large, full-thickness cartilage defects. The clinical outcome for carefully selected patients is very favorable, especially for the young and active and graft survival up to 25 years has been described in the literature. Furthermore, a high patient satisfaction rate has been reported, but the biggest obstacle to overcome is the availability of tissue for transplantation. Large fresh bone allografts for cartilage damage repair only can be harvested from organ donors following organ removal or cadaveric donors, preferably in the setting of an operation room to minimize possible contamination of the tissue. Apart from the logistic challenges this entails, an experienced recovery team is needed. Furthermore, the public as well as medical staff is much less aware of the possibility and requirements of tissue donation than organ donation and families of deceased are rarely approached for bone and cartilage donation. This review aims to highlight the current situation of organ and tissue donation in Europe with special focus on the processing of bones and possible safety and quality concerns. We analyze what may prevent consent and what might be done to improve the situation of tissue donation.