A Cross-Sectional Study of Professional Nurses' Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices Regarding Organ Donation in Critical Care Units of Public and Private Hospitals in the Eastern Cape, South Africa

Background: Globally, there is an overwhelming increase in the number of patients waiting for donated organs for transplantation, with a gross shortage of available organs. Lack of clear practice guidelines and the knowledge and attitudes of health care providers were hypothesized as possible reasons. We aimed to determine the attitudes, level of knowledge, and practices of professional nurses working in critical care units in public and private hospitals in Eastern Cape Province regarding organ donation. Method: The study used a quantitative, non-experimental, descriptive design to investigate the current knowledge, attitude, and practice of organ donation in critical care among 108 professional nurses working in public and private critical care units in Eastern cape. Data were collected between 26 February 2017 until 27 June 2017 using anonymous, self-administered, pretested questionnaires. The means of knowledge, and practice scores were estimated among participants, and their associated categorical explanatory variables were ascertained. Results: A total of 108 nurses participated in the study. Of these, 94 (87.0%) were female, 78 (72.2%) were black, 104 (96.3%) were Christians, 79 (73.2%) worked in an ICU, 79 (73.2%) had a diploma qualification, and 67 (62.0%) worked in a tertiary hospital. About 67% of the respondents had good knowledge, 53% had a positive attitude, and 50.4% had poor practice readiness toward organ donation. Working in renal units (p < 0.001) and practicing in tertiary hospitals (p < 0.001) were significantly associated with a high organ donation knowledge score while being a female nurse (p = 0.036), working in renal units (p < 0.001), and practicing in tertiary hospitals (p < 0.001) were significantly associated with a high organ donation practice score. Conclusion: Differences in organ donation knowledge and practices were noted between the different levels of health care services as the tertiary level outperformed the secondary level institutions. Nurses play a major role in critical and end-of-life care and are closer to patients and relatives. Hence, pre- and in-service education and promotional campaigns among nurses at all levels of care would be a strategic step to scale availability of donated organs and would meet the needs of thousands of individuals who need them to survive.

Automated summary

This study investigated the attitudes, level of knowledge, and practices of professional nurses working in critical care units in the Eastern Cape Province regarding organ donation. The results showed that more than half of the nurses had a positive attitude towards organ donation, but their practice readiness was inadequate. This study is of significant importance in improving the knowledge and practice levels of organ donation and meeting the needs of patients requiring organ transplantation.