Abstract
OBJECTIVE: To determine whether recently bereaved people would object to being asked about organ donation immediately after the death of their relative. METHODS: A telephone interview of 78 recently bereaved relatives of people who had died in an inner city accident and emergency (A&E) department; 68 (87%) agreed to participate in the study and were sent a questionnaire. Outcome measures were views on being asked about organ donation in the A&E department immediately after the death of a relative and knowledge of the possibility for organ donation in A&E after a sudden death. RESULTS: 37 questionnaires were returned: 27 (72.9%) of those who responded would not have minded being asked, five would have minded, and five did not know or did not fill in the questionnaire; 29 were aware that organs could be donated following a death in A&E. Only six people had discussed organ donation before the bereavement. Only two of the people who died and seven of their relatives carried a donor card. Sixteen had heard about the NHS donor register. CONCLUSIONS: Most those responding would not have minded being asked about organ donation following a sudden death. More education is needed in two main areas: (1) to raise public awareness about the shortage of donor organs; (2) to improve the medical and nursing confidence in discussing these difficult issues sensitively but more openly and frequently.
Full text
PDF
Selected References
These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.
- Adamowski K., Dickinson G., Weitzman B., Roessler C., Carter-Snell C. Sudden unexpected death in the emergency department: caring for the survivors. CMAJ. 1993 Nov 15;149(10):1445–1451. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Cheung A. H., Luna G. K. Cadaveric organ donor availability: regional trauma center vs. community hospital. J Trauma. 1990 Nov;30(11):1366–1371. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Ewins D., Bryant J. Accident and Emergency. Relative comfort--bereavement. Nurs Times. 1992 Dec 30;88(52):61–63. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Finlay I., Dallimore D. Your child is dead. BMJ. 1991 Jun 22;302(6791):1524–1525. doi: 10.1136/bmj.302.6791.1524. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- McManus I. C., Vincent C. A., Thom S., Kidd J. Teaching communication skills to clinical students. BMJ. 1993 May 15;306(6888):1322–1327. doi: 10.1136/bmj.306.6888.1322. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Riker R. R., White B. W. Organ and tissue donation from the emergency department. J Emerg Med. 1991 Nov-Dec;9(6):405–410. doi: 10.1016/0736-4679(91)90209-x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Schmidt T. A., Norton R. L., Tolle S. W. Sudden death in the ED: educating residents to compassionately inform families. J Emerg Med. 1992 Sep-Oct;10(5):643–647. doi: 10.1016/0736-4679(92)90155-m. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Stein A., Hope T., Baum J. D. Organ transplantation: approaching the donor's family. BMJ. 1995 May 6;310(6988):1149–1150. doi: 10.1136/bmj.310.6988.1149. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Swisher L. A., Nieman L. Z., Nilsen G. J., Spivey W. H. Death notification in the emergency department: a survey of residents and attending physicians. Ann Emerg Med. 1993 Aug;22(8):1319–1323. doi: 10.1016/s0196-0644(05)80117-9. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Varty K., Veitch P. S., Morgan J. D., Kehinde E. O., Donnelly P. K., Bell P. R. Response to organ shortage: kidney retrieval programme using non-heart beating donors. BMJ. 1994 Feb 26;308(6928):575–575. doi: 10.1136/bmj.308.6928.575. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Yates D. W., Ellison G., McGuiness S. Care of the suddenly bereaved. BMJ. 1990 Jul 7;301(6742):29–31. doi: 10.1136/bmj.301.6742.29. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]