Impact of training on intensive care providers' attitudes and knowledge regarding limitation of life-support treatment and organ donation after circulatory death.

The limitation of life-sustaining treatment is common practice in critical care units, and organ donation after circulatory death has come to be included as an option within this care plan. Lack of knowledge and misunderstandings can raise barriers between health-care providers (e.g., confusion about professional roles, lack of collaboration, doubts about the legality of the process, and not respecting patients' wishes in the decision-making process). The aim of the present study was to determine the knowledge and attitudes of intensive care physicians and nurses before and after a multidisciplinary online training program. A cross-sectional study was performed, and comparisons between the two groups were made using a χ2 -test for categorical data and unpaired t-test or Mann-Whitney rank sum test for continuous data according to its distribution. Training benefited both professional categories, helping nurses to be more open-minded and willing to collaborate, while physicians became more aware of nurses' presence and the need to collaborate with them.

Nurses' attitudes and knowledge regarding organ and tissue donation and transplantation in a provincial hospital: A descriptive and multivariate analysis.

The attitudes and knowledge of nursing personnel regarding organ and tissue donation can influence the decision to donate. This study aimed to determine these two factors among nurses at a district hospital in Barcelona, Spain. A survey was carried out using a 35 item questionnaire. Results were subjected to descriptive and comparative statistical analyses using bivariate and multivariate analyses to examine the relation between demographic data and attitudes toward donation. The completion rate was 68.2%, with 98.6% of those responding stating that they were in favor of organ donation. The respondents were unsure as to whether the criteria for inclusion in transplant waiting lists were appropriate (57.5%), whereas 72.2% agreed that brain death is equivalent to death. The bivariate analysis revealed a significant association between a positive attitude toward donation and working on permanent night shift no religious beliefs. Attitudes toward donation among nurses were generally positive; a negative attitude, although attitudes towards donation among the nurses participating in the study were generally positive, it should be pointed out that when a negative attitude does exist this affects significant aspects such as belief in the diagnosis of brain death or the criteria for inclusion on the waiting list, amongst others, which reflects that specific training in donation focused on nurses continues to be needed.