Attitudes of the Third-Year Nursing Students Toward Organ Donation: Cross-Sectional Study

Turkish anatomists' preferences to continue teaching after death and how it is impacted by their religious beliefs

The attitudes of anatomists toward donating their own bodies are a question of matter in the literature of medicine. The aim of the study was to evaluate the attitudes of Turkish anatomists regarding the donation of their own bodies as teaching material after death. A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among anatomists in Türkiye during the months of March and April 2023. An online survey was carried out by means of a questionnaire constructed using Google Forms©. The survey consisted of a demographic data part, Likert-type multiple choice questions, open-ended questions, and yes-no questions. The questionnaire was answered by 133 anatomists from the anatomy departments in Türkiye. The mean age was 38.9 ± 7.30 years. 48% of the anatomists who answered were male and 52% were female. Most of the participants have a religious belief (90%). All of the participants with religious beliefs were members of the Islamic religion. Approximately 5% of the participants stated that they donated their bodies as cadavers. Anatomists suggested increasing body donation by 76.7% as a solution to cadaveric insufficiency. Although most anatomists state that there is a need for body donation, the rate of donating their own bodies seems quite low. We think that anatomists accept the importance of body donation, but they do not think of themselves as donors. They only recommend body donation to other people. We think that programs and activities should be planned especially for those who are uncertain about body donation and those who only donate organs but do not donate bodies.

Increasing positive attitudes towards organ donation and improving the competence of coping with death through organ transplant nursing course: A two-group quasi-experimental study

AIM

The aim of the study was to determine the effect of an organ transplant nursing course offered to nursing students on increasing positive attitudes towards organ donation and developing competence in coping with death.

BACKGROUND

Incorporating organ donation education into undergraduate nursing curricula and promoting of coping mechanisms for coping with death, has been emphasized as a critical foundation for the preparating of the next generation of nurses.

DESIGN

Two-groups pre- and post-intervention evaluation quasi-experimental design study.

METHODS

This study was conducted between February and July 2023 with a total of 237 nursing students studying at two different universities, 116 of whom took the organ transplant course and 121 of whom did not take the course. Sociodemographic Characteristics Form, Coping with Death Scale-Short Form and Organ Donation Attitudes Scale were used for data collection. Mann-Whitney U test, Chi-Square, t-test, Pearson correlation and linear regression were used to analyze the data.

RESULTS

There was a statistically significant difference between the students who took organ transplant nursing courses and those who did not in terms of the mean scores of coping with death competence and positive and negative attitudes toward organ donation (p<0.05). It was found that taking an organ transplant nursing course affected nursing students' coping with death competence and their positive and negative attitudes toward organ donation (p <0.01).

CONCLUSION

Taking the organ transplant nursing course was associated with improved competence in coping with death a increased positive and decreased negative attitudes.

Religious attitude and sense of citizenship effect on organ donation in nursing students: A cross-sectional study

AIM

This study examined the effect of religious attitude and sense of citizenship to organ donation attitudes and organ donation willingness among nursing students.

BACKGROUND

Organ donation is an issue that should be evaluated together with medical, religious, social, economic, cultural, legal and ethical variables. However, there is no research examining the effect of religious attitudes or sense of citizenship on organ donation attitudes and willingness.

DESIGN

A descriptive, correlational study.

METHODS

A total of 225 nursing students participated in the study between February and April 2020. The data were collected with the Ok-Religious Attitude Scale, the Sense of Citizenship Scale, an Organ Donation Questionnaire and the Organ Donation Attitude Scale.

RESULTS

A sample of 187 nursing students participated; 50.8% of them were in the stage of thinking about organ donation willingness. Older nursing students (β =.231, p<.001) was positively affected to the positive organ donation attitude, while being male (β = -.151, p=.035) was negatively affected. Male gender (β=0.201, p=.004) was positively affected to the negative organ donation attitude. Acceptance of differences (β=-0.262, p<.001) and relationship with God score (β=-0.189, p=.006) were negatively affected to the negative organ donation attitude. Regarding the participants' willingness to donate, acceptance of differences (β=.213, p=.004) was found to be a significant predictor.

CONCLUSIONS

In this study, it was found that being female, relationship with God and acceptance of differences had a positive effect on organ donation attitude. Acceptance of differences was found as important factor in organ donation willingness.

Attitudes of Future Nurses and Midwives On Organ Donation and Transplantation and Affecting Factors: A Cross-Sectional Study

OBJECTIVES

The objective of this study was to assess the attitudes of undergraduate nursing and midwifery students toward organ donation and identify the factors that influence these attitudes.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

The study was conducted at Burdur Mehmet Akif Ersoy University, Bucak School of Health, in Turkey. A total of 700 students participated in the study, representing 88.49% of the population. Online forms were used for data collection, and the Organ Donation Attitude Scale was used as a data collection tool.

RESULTS

Our results showed that 47.9% of the students had not expressed a desire to donate their organs, and only 0.1% reported having donated organs. Additionally, 41.4% of the participants did not share their thoughts on organ donation with their families. Our study also found that 87.4% of the participants had not participated in any training program on organ donation. Logistic regression analysis revealed that factors such as students' sex, progress toward completion of curriculum (ie, class year), presence of a family member with organ transplant experience, organ donation status, and knowledge of organ donation influenced the participants' attitudes toward organ donation.

CONCLUSIONS

This study highlights the need for health care professionals, including nursing students, to be educated and prepared to promote and support organ donation. By understanding the factors that influence attitudes, interventions and educational programs can be developed to improve organ donation rates and address misconceptions or concerns among nursing students.

Does Death Anxiety Affect the Attitude Towards Organ Donation?

BACKGROUND

It is important to determine the attitudes of nurse candidates towards organ transplantation and their death anxiety levels to help patient families make an informed decision about organ donation.

AIM

The aim of this study is to examine nurse candidates' public knowledge and attitude towards organ donation.

METHODS

The research was conducted with nursing students at the Faculty of Health Sciences, between December 2021 and February 2022. Data were collected using a personal information form, Fear of Death Scale (FODS), and Organ Donation Attitude Scale (ODAS).

RESULTS

Our study determined that the percentage of students who wanted to donate organs and the death anxiety average of students were moderate. It was determined that students' positive attitudes towards organ donation were high and negative attitudes were low, and there was a negative relationship between them (p<0.001). In this study, in the comparison of death anxiety by gender, the mean scores of women's death anxiety, thinking about death and witnessing death, suffering, and uncertainty of death were found to be higher than men's, and the difference was significant (p<0.001).

CONCLUSION

As a result, it is thought that improving the attitudes of future nurse candidates towards organ transplantation will significantly affect their organ transplantation decisions. Education is required for students with insufficient experience.

Does religious attitude affect organ donation and transplantation?

INTRODUCTION

While the reasons for opposition to organ donation and transplantation include several factors such as socioeconomc status, education and culture, religious belief has been reported to be the most important factor.

AIM

The aim of this study was to determine the effect of the religious attitude on organ donation and transplantation.

MATERIAL AND METHOD

The study universe of this descriptive and relational study comprised adults living in the city centre of Kahramanmaraş. To give 99% power and a significance level of α = 0.05, the sample was formed of 406 individuals who agreed to participate in the study between February and March 2021. The study data were collected using a Personal Information Form, the Religious Attitudes Scale, and the Organ Donation Attitude Scale. In the data analysis, descriptive statistics were stated as mean and standard deviation values, number, and percentage. Correlation and regression analyses were performed to determine the relationship between religious belief and attitude to organ donation and transplantation.

RESULTS

The study participants comprised 84% females, 76.82% were aged 18-28 years, 92.1% were university graduates and 71.7% were not working. Of the total participants, 86.0% stated that nobody close to them had undergone organ transplantation, 92.6% that nobody close to them was waiting for organ transplantation, 50.7% that they had received positive information from a religious perspective about organ donation, 82.0% that they had not sought information themselves about organ donation, 67.2% that they had received no education about organ transplantation, 46% that they found the education given sufficient, 66.7% that they knew about the organ and tissue donation system, and 49.0% that they thought official approval was not required for organ donation. As a result of the correlation and regression analyses, a statistically significant relationship was determined between religious attitude and the subdimension of fear of medical neglect in the the Organ Donation Attitude Scale (p < 0.05).

CONCLUSION

The results of this study demonstrated a relationship between religious attitudes and the attitude to organ transplantation. In the light of this result it can be recommended that a multidisciplinary team is established, including nurses and religious clerics, for the public to have correct information for the evaluation of organ transplantation from a religious perspective and to eliminate the concerns of society on this subject.

Understanding ambivalence toward organ donation and transplantation: An exploratory study of nursing students

BACKGROUND

There is a continuing shortage of organs for transplantation purposes worldwide. Determining why this is a recurring problem is necessary as organ transplantation is a highly successful life saving measure. It is possible that ambivalence is key to this shortage.

OBJECTIVES

To explore the possible existence of ambivalence toward organ donation and transplantation among Canadian nursing students, and gaining insights into this ambivalence when present.

DESIGN

An exploratory study using a structured questionnaire to explore the existence of ambivalence in relation to donating and receiving an organ for transplantation purposes.

METHODS

A total of 170 undergraduate nursing students at a Canadian university participated in this study by completing a brief questionnaire distributed to all five classes of nursing students who were taking a mandatory research course during the 2017-18 university calendar year. The survey tool was designed to collect quantitative and qualitative data in relation to their ambivalence toward organ donation and transplantation.

RESULTS

Nursing students are more willing to receive an organ than to donate. The willingness to donate or receive an organ was related to their personal beliefs and moral codes, religion, level of knowledge, and the existence of ambivalence.

CONCLUSIONS

This study reveals important insights into ambivalence about donating and receiving organs. The study found it was very easy to introduce ambivalence among nursing students, with this information highly relevant for student education and other applications.