bulletin UK Transplant - Organ Donation

gone…family members and to seekreassurances for any concerns.Attention – to the special role thatthey had as next-of-kin; attentionto their inner turmoil and theunderstanding, by healthprofessionals, that this will impacton how they process information.Care – in the way, and the where,that information is presented andthe understanding that this will“live” on in the minds of the nextof-kinfor years to come.Recommendations• Assessment of individualinformation needs, availablesupport and emotional responsesto the ongoing situation.• Development and greater use ofvisual information aids eg CTscans, x-rays, anatomical modelsof the brain and leaflets to helpexplain the critical injury; possiblyusing a video to explain brainstem testing.• The offer of the opportunity forfamily members to watch brainstem testing if they wish to doso.• Education of all healthprofessionals regarding thebereavement needs of families.Helping families make the rightdecisionEnd of life decisions remain withthe living long after the death of aloved one and have beenimplicated in abnormal andcomplicated grief. As families havea time-limited opportunity toconsider organ donation, it isimperative that the approach anddiscussion about organ donationfacilitates a decision that will not beregretted later.The findings of this study, thatfamilies did not feel that beingasked about organ donationAvril Wilson talks to a patient’s relative about organ donation. Avril spendshalf her time as a ward sister and half as a donor liaison sister at UlsterHospital in Dundonald. She talked about how hard it is to ask recentlybereaved families about organ donation. She explained: “It’s always painfuland you never get used to it. But it’s the best outcome from a bad situation –so that life can go on. A lot of support is given to relatives. In my position I canbe with relatives throughout. There’s a bond of trust and it’s such a privilege tobe there with them.”increased their distress, or thatorgan donation should not havebeen raised by the healthcare team,should provide health professionalswith compelling evidence tosupport their practice. Families mayhave felt that the timing was pooror that the manner in which theywere approached and donationdiscussed was unsatisfactory, butthey recognised that healthprofessionals had a responsibility toraise the topic.The study highlights the necessityfor health professionals to discussorgan donation, focusing on thepossible consequences to the familyof a decision that may be regrettedlater. It also confirms theimportance of raising awarenessamongst the general public so thatfamilies have thought about organdonation before they are involved inthe situation of a sudden death.Recommendations• The discussion about organdonation should be carried out,and restricted to, those staffmembers who are comfortableand knowledgeable about thistopic.• Greater publicity about theprocess of organ donation, usingthe media to stimulate discussionand acknowledge the impact oforgan donors in society.Bereavement supportAll but one family who met withtransplant co-ordinators during thehospital experience wereunanimously positive about thisexperience. Whilst someparticipants had to wait “too long,too long” to meet with transplantco-ordinators, those who did waitto meet with them were impressedwith the care offered.One area of bereavement supportthat transplant co-ordinators werevery aware of was the need forcontact with, and mementoes of,the deceased. These ranged fromthe opportunity to “lay down withthe deceased” to offers of hand orfootprints and locks of hair. Theseoffers were all potentContinued on page 16Reproduced courtesy of Belfast TelegraphBulletin Summer 200315