Attitudes of upper division nursing students toward organ donation

BACKGROUND: Attitudes of 28 upper division BSN students toward organ donation were explored in this pilot study.

METHOD: The Organ Donor Attitude Questionnaire II-Student Version was distributed to a convenience sample of 56 BSN students, with 28 completed questionnaires returned.

RESULTS: Ninety-six percent (n = 27) of participants "agree" to "strongly agree" with the basic concept of organ donation. A significant negative correlation (rpb(26) = -.60, p = .0007) was found between attitude toward organ donation and having signed the organ donation portion of one's driver's license. Increased knowledge of the subject was believed to be a major influence by slightly more than two thirds (67.8%; n = 19) of those surveyed. Although students demonstrated a lack of knowledge regarding organ donation (mean = 62.5, range 0 to 100), no significant correlation was found between knowledge level and selected variables or attitude.

CONCLUSION: The results indicate that educational programs addressing donor identification and management would be beneficial if included in nursing education curricula and new graduate orientation.