Non-heart-beating donors: an inquiry to ICU nurses in a belgian university hospital

Demand for organs for transplantation continues to be greater than supply. Non-heart-beating donation (NHBD) has been reintroduced to reverse this trend. We describe the findings of a short questionnaire that determined the attitudes and feelings of nursing staff in a department of intensive care with an established NHBD program. Despite several educational sessions, only 3% of the nurses thought they were adequately informed about NHBD. Thirty-eight percent of nurses were less comfortable with NHBD than with brain death organ donation. NHBD is an ethically controversial area but one that can improve organ availability for transplantation. Adequate education, ongoing audit, and full transparency are needed in units that use NHBD.