Attitudes of upper division nursing students toward organ donation

Attitudes of 28 upper division BSN students toward organ donation were explored in this pilot study.

The Organ Donor Attitude Questionnaire II-Student Version was distributed to a convenience sample of 56 BSN students, with 28 completed questionnaires returned.

Ninety-six percent (n = 27) of participants "agree" to "strongly agree" with the basic concept of organ donation. A significant negative correlation (rpb(26) = -.60, p = .0007) was found between attitude toward organ donation and having signed the organ donation portion of one's driver's license. Increased knowledge of the subject was believed to be a major influence by slightly more than two thirds (67.8%; n = 19) of those surveyed. Although students demonstrated a lack of knowledge regarding organ donation (mean = 62.5, range 0 to 100), no significant correlation was found between knowledge level and selected variables or attitude.

The results indicate that educational programs addressing donor identification and management would be beneficial if included in nursing education curricula and new graduate orientation.