MOHAN Foundation transplant coordinators who volunteered to coordinate the organ donation program at Government General Hospital, Chennai planned to conduct awareness programs for all the nurses. The main goal of this program is to educate the nurses about the concept of brain death and the steps involved in the organ donation process.
The aim of this sensitization program is to disseminate information about “organ donation after death” to the general public through nurses. When there is a deceased person in the ward the nurses are the first people who come into contact with the relatives. If they are aware of organ donation and its importance they can approach the family for organ donation. On a daily basis, at least 10 – 15 deaths take place in the Government General Hospital. If we approach the family members of all those deceased persons for eye donation, we can help out quite a few blind people by gifting them with beautiful sight.
Knowledge on ORGAN DONATION is essential for nurses who work at the bedside of each patient. The nurses are the key persons in identifying a brain dead patient. The sensitization program about organ donation was exclusively arranged to give in-depth information about organs that can be donated after death, specifically eye donation and also organ donation after brain death. The program also covered living organ donation. Another important objective was counseling – grief counseling - at which stage should a counselor approach the family and make a request for organ donation. We also discussed the technical barriers faced during any organ donation process at Government General Hospital.
We also conducted a survey on awareness on organ donation for all the nurses who participated in this program. At the end they gave their feedback on how to improve the program and alternatives to overcome the barriers faced during organ donation process at the hospital. 17 nurses from different departments attended the program and every one pledged for a donor card. This sensitization program is an ongoing program and will be conducted over a period of six months so that all the nurses at the hospital will be educated.
Schedule: Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday of every week
First Session: 17th May’10
Second Session: 20th May'10
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