Approaching families for organ donation: physicians are willing.
While current literature documents a critical disparity between the increasing demand for organs for transplantation and the relatively static supply, reasons for the shortage of donors are not well understood. Public opinion surveys describe a population willing to donate, but consent rates reported by organ procurement organizations suggest problems in the process of approaching families. This study of Texas physicians regarding their knowledge of laws related to brain death and to routine inquiry for organ donation and their attitudes toward the critical step of seeking consent from families indicates that physicians need more information about questions asked by families, would benefit from more structured hospital policies on routine inquiry, feel that physicians rather than nurses should approach families, and believe that the public is not well informed about donation.
Exley
M H
MH
Southwest Organ Bank, Inc, Dallas, TX 75219.
Serbin
M F
MF
Goldstein
R M
RM
D001926:Brain Death / Q000175:diagnosis; D005190:Family; D006801:Humans; D010819:Physician's Role; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014019:Tissue Donors