How does the general public view posthumous organ donation? A meta-synthesis of the qualitative literature

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Many individuals are unwilling to become posthumous organ donors, resulting in a disparity between the supply and demand for organ transplants. A meta-synthesis of the qualitative literature was therefore conducted to determine how the general public views posthumous organ donation.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Three online databases (PubMed, PsycINFO, Scopus) were searched for articles published between January 1990 and May 2008 using the following search terms: organ donation, qualitative, interview. Eligibility criteria were: examination of beliefs about posthumous organ donation; utilization of a qualitative research design; and publication in an English peer-reviewed journal. Exclusion criteria were examining how health professionals or family members of organ donors viewed posthumous organ donation. Grounded theory was used to identify the beliefs emerging from this literature. Thematically-related beliefs were then grouped to form themes.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>27 articles from 24 studies met the inclusion criteria and were reviewed. The major themes identified were: religion, death, altruism, personal relevance, the body, the family, medical professionals, and transplant recipients. An altruistic motivation to help others emerged as the most commonly identified motivator for becoming an organ donor, although feeling a sense of solidarity with the broader community and believing that donated organs are put to good use may be important preconditions for the emergence of this motivation. The two most commonly identified barriers were the need to maintain bodily integrity to safeguard progression into the afterlife and the unethical recovery of organs by medical professionals. The influence of stakeholder groups on willingness to become an organ donor was also found to vary by the level of control that each stakeholder group exerted over the donation recovery process and their perceived conflict of interest in wanting organ donation to proceed.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>These findings afford insights into how individuals perceive posthumous organ donation.</p

Exploring the critical care nurses’ experiences regarding moonlighting

While moonlighting is so prevalent amongst critical care nurses, there are no documented facts in this country about how it affects the nurses and the hospital management, considering the nature of their work that is both physically, mentally and emotionally strenuous. The aim of this study was to explore the critical care nurses’ rationale and experiences regarding holding a second job (moonlighting). A non-experimental exploratory study was done using focus groups. Many positive and less positive experiences were revealed, for example, economical, educational, and psychosocial ones. Participatory control of moonlighting activity was suggested involving both management and staff at functional level

Exploring the trauma care nurse’s lived experiences of dealing with the violent death of their clients

A phenomenological approach was used to explore the phenomenon, violent death, from the perspective of trauma care nurses working in Kwa-Zulu Natal. Three relatively unstructured interviews were undertaken on an individual basis with each lasting thirty to forty-five minutes long. The researchers applied the principle o f theoretical saturation and a total of seven participants from three levelone trauma units were included in the study. All the interviews were tape recorded and transcribed, and manual analysis, as well as a qualitative software package - NUD*IST - was used to identify experiential themes within the data. The trauma care nurses conceptualized violent death as being sudden, unpredictable, senseless and not as dignified or peaceful as a non-violent death. A number of issues that made confronting violent death difficult were raised and the trauma care nurses described a number of emotional and physical reactions that they experienced due to exposure to these situations. A number of recommendations were suggested for the trauma care nurses, nursing management, nurse educators and for future research in an attempt to prevent the loss of these valuable nurses from the nursing profession

Influencers of midwives'practice of interpersonal communication and counselling [IPCC]skills post workshop

No Abstract