The 1st State Level Workshop on “Organ Donation” for nurses was organized by the MMM College of Nursing in collaboration with MOHAN Foundation on 23^rd June 2012. The venue was the Madras Medical Mission (MMM), Chennai.

The response was overwhelming with 750 students from 22 nursing colleges in Tamil Nadu participating in the workshop. Dr. A. Judie, Principal, Prof. R. Padmavathi Kamaraj, Vice Principal, MMM College of Nursing, and their team worked tirelessly to put the workshop together. MOHAN Foundation was the knowledge partner.

The workshop began at 9 a.m. with an introduction to the Concepts of Organ donation by Dr. Saravanan, Director - ILKOT, MMM. His comprehensive overview was followed by a lucid talk on Brain Death by Dr. J. Amalorpavanathan, Convenor, Cadaver Transplant Programme, Tamil Nadu. Dr. Sunil Shroff, Managing Trustee, MOHAN Foundation had the difficult task of talking on the Ethics of Organ Donation & Transplantation. He showcased some interesting case studies where the participants had to grapple with very real ethical issues.

The legal framework that governs organ donation and transplantation – The Transplantation of Human Organs Act, 1994, Rules, and Amendments – was elucidated by Mrs. Sujatha Niranjan, MIS Manager, MOHAN Foundation. This was followed by a talk on the Role of NGOs in Organ Donation & Transplantation by Dr. Sumana Navin, Course Director, MOHAN Foundation. She illustrated the important role that NGOs play in creating public trust through transparency and credibility. The MOHAN Foundation experience itself was a case in point, she said, as she took the participants through the Foundation’s 15 year journey. Ms. Jessi Saranya, Transplant Coordinator, MOHAN Foundation, spoke about the Role of Nurses as Transplant Coordinators. She described the two roles that a nurse could don – donor coordinator and recipient coordinator. She emphasized the importance of counseling and the attributes that one should possess – empathy, warmth, non-judgemental and flexible attitude, knowledge (medical & legal).

Post lunch, the presentations were devoted to issues related to specific organs. The first talk was on Renal transplants by Dr. Georgi Abraham, Consultant Nephrologist, MMM.  The topic of Heart transplant, Lung transplant and homografts was covered by Dr. Anbarasu, Consultant Cardiothoracic surgeon, MMM. Giving a clear picture of Corneal Transplant was Dr. R. R. Sudhir, Consultant – Preventive Ophthalmology, Sankara Nethralaya. The session on Liver, Pancreas and Small bowel transplant was dealt with by Dr. George Kurian, Head of Gastro-enterology, Pondicherry Institute of Medical Sciences. The session was rounded off by an Organ Donation Quiz by Dr. Sumana Navin in which the audience enthusiastically participated since there were prizes to be won!

The Valedictory function was a thought-provoking and inspiring affair. The Chief Guest, was Dr. S. Ashokan, father of deceased donor Master. Hithendran. Dr. Ashokan spoke eloquently about the need for nurses to be gentle and kind to patients and their families since they are the ones who constantly interact with the patients/families. He said that he and his family draw comfort from the fact that through their son they were able to give a new lease of life to many patients. The Guest of Honour was Father Dominic M. K. Das, from Nagercoil, who is actively involved in eye donation and whole body donation. Mrs. Radhika – kidney recipient and Mr. Jayagopal – kidney recipient spoke about the remarkable change that a transplant had brought to their lives. The workshop ended with many of the students pledging to carry the message of organ donation into the community.