Impact of Death Work Competence on Emergency Nurses' Perspectives in the Organ Donation Process

Deceased organ donation is a vital but underutilized solution to the global organ shortage. As frontline responders, emergency nurses are pivotal to the donation process; however, their involvement may be limited by their death work competence or their ability to manage the complexities of end-of-life care. This study explores the relationship between death work competence and emergency nurses' perspectives on organ donation, specifically focusing on their knowledge, attitudes, and communication readiness.

A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among 107 emergency nurses in a North Indian teaching hospital. Data were collected using a structured self-administered questionnaire and the Self-Competence in Death Work Scale (SC-DWS). Descriptive and correlational analyses were performed to examine associations between knowledge, attitudes, and self-competence.

Most participants supported organ donation (97.4%), and 69.2% had considered donor registration. Nurses demonstrated moderate knowledge (mean 8.41 ± 1.53) and attitudes (mean 6.21 ± 1.36), with overall moderate death work competence (mean 55.21 ± 9.13). A significant positive correlation was observed between knowledge and death work competence (r = 0.296, p = 0.009), suggesting that higher competence enhances understanding and positive perspectives toward organ donation.

Death work competence seems to influence emergency nurses' perspectives and readiness to engage in organ donation discussions.

Jose S, Cyriac MC, Dhandapani M, Gayathri PV. Impact of Death Work Competence on Emergency Nurses' Perspectives in the Organ Donation Process. Indian J Crit Care Med 2026;30(2):134-139.