title: Alpha and omega: the grief of the heart donor family.
abstract: This paper focuses on the grief experienced by the families of persons whose hearts have been donated; it is also about the future of the heart transplantation programme at St Vincent's Hospital and the role continuing donation plays. The article makes suggestions about the future management of the heart donor process in order to avoid confusion of the pain of loss with the decision to donate a heart.
mesh_terms: D003376:Counseling; D005190:Family; D006117:Grief; D006801:Humans; D014019:Tissue Donors