Faith, Culture and Professional Identity: An Exploratory Qualitative Study of Nursing Students' Perspectives on Organ...

Organ donation is a medical and ethical issue shaped by faith, culture, and beliefs about death and the body. For nursing students, these beliefs intersect with their emerging professional identity, often generating tensions between personal convictions and professional duties. This study aimed to explore nursing students' perceptions of organ donation in Türkiye, focusing on the influence of faith, cultural values, and professional identity in shaping their decisions. We adopted a descriptive phenomenological design with focus-group interviews. Thirteen undergraduate nursing students from a foundation university participated in three online focus groups. Data were analyzed thematically using Braun and Clarke's six-step framework, guided by COREQ standards. Two overarching themes were identified: (1) Organ Donation in Light of Personal Experiences and Values, which included family influence, spiritual and cultural beliefs, death anxiety, bodily integrity, and issues of justice and trust; and (2) Organ Donation in Light of Professional Identity and Education, reflecting the role of clinical experiences, ethical principles, and the challenge of reconciling personal beliefs with professional responsibilities. While many students valued organ donation as an altruistic act, religious and cultural concerns contributed to hesitation, especially in decisions involving family members. Nursing students' perspectives on organ donation emerge at the intersection of faith, culture, and professional identity. Incorporating religious and cultural dimensions into nursing curricula, alongside ethics-based education and reflective practice, may strengthen students' ability to integrate personal beliefs with professional duties and promote organ donation more effectively.