HEALTH WORKERS' THOUGHTS ABOUT BRAIN DEATH AND ORGAN DONATION

Organ and tissue grafting (transplantation) is the transfer of a healthy, functioning organ or tissue or a portion of one, from either a living or a brain-dead patient, to replace a corresponding but no longer functioning organ or tissue in the body of another patient. The goal of this study was to ascertain the attitudes and knowledge of the doctors and other personnel in our hospital concerning organ donation, to raise awareness of transplantation in health workers, whom we deem to be the driving force in organ donation, and to identify our shortcomings in this regard. The questionnaire in our study was administered to 315 health care personnel who work at Sivas Paradigm (Numune) Hospital. We conducted the 32-question survey on participating staff members with the aim of determining their positions on brain death, whether they were organ donors, their views on organ donation, and any ideas they might have about changes that could be made in our country to increase organ donation. The results obtained were analyzed and evaluated using the descriptive statistical methods of the SPSS 14.0 software package. Of the employees surveyed, 42 (13.3%) indicated they had no knowledge about brain death, 119 (37.7%) declared they had received no in-service training concerning brain death, and 201 (63.8%) said they were not organ donors. In response to the question of what should be done to improve organ donation, 248 (78.7%) recommended explaining its acceptability from a religious standpoint, 171 (54.2%) advised more frequently sharing with the public both the drama of those awaiting transplant surgery and the great joy of those who now have a new lease on life thanks to organ transplants, 139 (44.1%) said it was necessary to explain the issue to the public at intervals on radio and television, 100 (31.7%) endorsed expressing the importance of this issue to health care professionals during the course of their education, and 32 (10%) indicated cash awards should be offered to the loved ones of potential donors. We believe health care workers are the most important group to lead the community in organ donation. It is our considered opinion that our number one priority is to develop training programs with the aim of enhancing the interest and knowledge of those professionals about this subject, and also to utilize the mass media to change society’s perspectives concerning the issue