Evaluation of intensive care nurses' knowledge level towards cadaveric donor care and attitudes towards brain death and organ transplantation

This study was conducted as a descriptive and correlational study in order to evaluate the relationship between the knowledge level of nurses working in intensive care units about deceased donor care and their attitudes towards brain death and organ transplantation. The study was conducted between May 2024 and July 2024 with nurses who provided donor care in tertiary intensive care units of two university hospitals. The study sample consisted of 154 nurses. "Descriptive Characteristics Form", "Nurses' Knowledge Questionnaire Towards Donor Care", and "Intensive Care Nurses' Attitude Scale Towards Brain Death and Organ Transplantation" were used to collect the data. The mean score of knowledge of nurses regarding donor care was found to be 7.28±2.08, and the mean score of attitude scale of intensive care nurses regarding brain death and organ transplantation was found to be 58.29±7.61. It was found that knowledge scores of nurses increased as their working period increased, and discomfort decreased in their attitudes towards brain death and organ transplantation as their level of education increased, and there was a significant increase in the positive attitude score of nurses who received training on donor care. Since nurses' high level of knowledge about donor care is associated with positive attitudes towards brain death and organ transplantation, it is recommended that donor care be included in both basic undergraduate education and postgraduate in-service training and intensive care nursing certificate programs.