Effect of Transplant Education on Nurses' Attitudes toward Organ Donation and Plans to Work with Transplant Patients

Abstract

Context Despite the increase in rates of solid organ transplantation in the past 2 decades, nurses are inconsistently educated regarding issues of organ donation and posttransplant care. Objective To characterize the attitudes of registered nurses before and after a graduate-level elective on issues in transplantation. Design Pre-experimental, pretest and posttest interventional study Participants 30 graduate students, who are registered nurses, who enrolled in a transplant elective at a university in the Southeastern United States Main Outcome Measure Investigator-designed survey tool consisting of 18 questions delivered in an electronic format. Results Statistically significant results were seen in nurses' attitudes toward encouraging others to become organ donors ( P = .04), preparation to discuss transplantation with others ( P< .001), advocacy to discuss transplantation among colleagues ( P = .003), confidence in working with transplant patients ( P = .005), confidence in speaking to communities about organ donation ( P = .001), and plans to encourage others to get involved in transplantation ( P = .03). Conclusion These results support the need for providing focused education on transplantation issues to registered nurses, particularly in the academic setting.