Survey of Living Organ Donors' Experience and Directions for Process Improvement

Understanding living organ donors' experience with donation and challenges faced during the process is necessary to guide the development of effective strategies to maximize donor benefit and increase the number of living donors.

An anonymous self-administered survey, specifically designed for this population based on key informant interviews, was mailed to 426 individuals who donated a kidney or liver at our institution. Quantitative and qualitative methods including open and axial coding were used to analyze donor responses.

Of the 141 survey respondents, 94% would encourage others to become donors; however, nearly half (44%) thought the donation process could be improved and offered numerous suggestions. Five major themes arose: (1) desire for greater convenience in testing and scheduling; (2) involvement of previous donors throughout the process; (3) education and promotion of donation through social media; (4) unanticipated difficulties, specifically pain; and (5) financial concerns.

Donor feedback has been translated into performance improvements at our hospital, many of which are applicable to other institutions. Population-specific survey development helps to identify vital patient concerns and provides valuable feedback to enhance the delivery of care.