Organ donation: what do nurses know and believe?

At the end of 1994, 2,226 Canadians were waiting for organ transplants. Some of these people will die waiting for transplants; others will live with significant impairments in quality of life. Yet it has been estimated that if organ donations were obtained from just half of potential donors, enough transplantable organs would be available for all potential recipients. Why is there such a shortage of organs available for transplantation? The simple answer is that organ donations take place in only 10 to 14 per cent of brain deaths (the major potential source of transplantable tissue). But the more complex answer refers to the multitude of cultural, psychological, economic and practical factors that limit donations and transplantations.