Cultural Virtues and Health Workers' Attitudes Toward Organ Donation: A Correlational Study

Healthcare professionals occupy a central position in influencing societal attitudes and ethical decision-making concerning organ donation. Understanding how cultural virtues, such as helpfulness, spirituality, and conviction, shape these attitudes provides valuable insights for ethics education and policy development. This study aimed to examine the relationship between healthcare professionals' attitudes toward organ donation and their cultural virtues.

A descriptive, cross-sectional, and correlational design was adopted. The sample consisted of 201 healthcare professionals (72.1% nurses, 27.9% physicians) employed in a state hospital in Türkiye between April and July 2024. Data were gathered using the Identifying Features Form, the Post-Mortem Organ Donation Attitude Scale, and the Cultural Virtues Scale. Statistical analyses included descriptive statistics, Pearson's correlation, and multiple regression.

Participants' mean score on the Organ Donation Attitude Scale (67.31 ± 14.48) reflected generally positive attitudes. Significant correlations emerged between the Organ Donation Attitude Scale and Spirituality (p = .019), between Family Approval and Spirituality (p < .001), between Positive Attitude and Conviction (p = .029), and between Family Approval and Conviction (p = .026). Regression analysis identified spirituality (β = 0.159; p < .05) as a significant predictor of organ donation attitudes.

Healthcare professionals exhibited favorable ethical attitudes toward organ donation, with spirituality exerting a particularly strong influence. These findings suggest that spiritual and cultural virtues guide moral reasoning and altruistic motivation in clinical decision-making. Integrating cultural and spiritual perspectives into professional ethics and training programs may enhance healthcare professionals' engagement with organ donation practices.