Stressors experienced by nurses while caring for organ donors and their families.

OBJECTIVES To identify the stressors experienced by nurses who care for organ donors and their families. DESIGN Retrospective, exploratory, descriptive. SETTING Eastern Canada. PARTICIPANTS Seventeen nurses who worked in a neurologic intensive care unit were interviewed. All had provided care to organ donors. RESULTS The threat of the patient dying, the inconsistent commitment of physicians to organ donation, and returning to an empty space were frequently mentioned stressors. All nurses felt positive about being involved in the organ donation process. CONCLUSION To deal with the stressors, nurses recommended more education in the area of grief, crisis interventions, stress, and coping theories. More important, they suggested the need to address their feelings through stress debriefing sessions.

[1]  L. Huckabay,et al.  Nurses' stress factors in the intensive care unit. , 1979, The Journal of nursing administration.

[2]  J. Foster,et al.  Stress, alcohol, tobacco and illicit drug use amongst nurses: a Scottish study. , 1992, Journal of advanced nursing.

[3]  H. S. Wilson,et al.  Research in Nursing , 1985 .

[4]  D. Cross,et al.  Stress, coping behaviors, and recommendations for intensive care and medical surgical ward registered nurses. , 1985, Research in nursing & health.

[5]  K. Back.  Critical incident stress management for care providers in the pediatric emergency department. , 1992, Critical care nurse.

[6]  M. L. Stoeckle.  Attitudes of Critical Care Nurses Toward Organ Donation , 1990, Dimensions of critical care nursing : DCCN.

[7]  L. Spencer.  How do nurses deal with their own grief when a patient dies on an intensive care unit, and what help can be given to enable them to overcome their grief effectively? , 1994, Journal of advanced nursing.

[8]  M. Ehrenfeld,et al.  Cardiac nurses: coping with stress. , 1990, Journal of advanced nursing.

[9]  P. Reiley,et al.  Attitudes affecting organ donation in the intensive care unit. , 1984, Heart & lung : the journal of critical care.

[10]  Z. Wolf.  Nurses’ Experiences Giving Postmortem Care to Patients Who Have Donated Organs: A Phenomenological Study , 1991, Scholarly Inquiry for Nursing Practice.

[11]  D. Cronin-Stubbs,et al.  The stress, social support, and burnout of critical care nurses: the results of research. , 1985, Heart & lung : the journal of critical care.

[12]  M. Rovelli,et al.  Donor family surveys provide useful information for organ procurement. , 1990, Transplantation proceedings.

[13]  G. Sorock,et al.  Intensive care nurses' perceptions of cadaver organ procurement. , 1983, Heart & lung : the journal of critical care.

[14]  D. Chiriboga,et al.  Changes in Management Stressors on ICU Nurses , 1988, Dimensions of critical care nursing : DCCN.

[15]  M. Hickey,et al.  Critical care nurses' role with families: a descriptive study. , 1988, Heart & lung : the journal of critical care.

[16]  Denise Polit-O'Hara,et al.  Nursing Research: Principles and Methods , 1978 .

[17]  Kiberd Mc,et al.  Nursing attitudes towards organ donation, procurement, and transplantation. , 1992 .

[18]  M. Pelletier.  The organ donor family members' perception of stressful situations during the organ donation experience. , 1992, Journal of advanced nursing.

[19]  S. Folkman,et al.  Stress, appraisal, and coping , 1974 .

[20]  J. Tonkin,et al.  Registered nurse stress in intensive care units--an Australian perspective. , 1991, Intensive care nursing.

[21]  R. Crickmore.  A review of stress in the intensive care unit. , 1987, Intensive Care Nursing.

[22]  S. A. Bidigare,et al.  Attitudes and knowledge of nurses regarding organ procurement. , 1991, Heart & lung : the journal of critical care.

[23]  P. Benner,et al.  The Primacy of Caring: Stress and Coping in Health and Illness , 1989 .

[24]  R. Willis,et al.  Serving the needs of donor families: the role of the critical care nurse. , 1992, Critical care nursing clinics of North America.