Assess the Knowledge and Attitude on Organ Donation among the Employees of a Tertiary Care Multispecialty Health Care Setting

Organ transplantation has been found to be the sole possible treatment in most of the chronic illness & organ failure. It?d be possible to avoid wasting thousands of lives by organ donation. It?s been found that the difficulty of organ donation involves lots of medical, legal, ethical, organizational and social factors. Although the shortage of organs has been found to be a world problem, the case in Asia is way worse. The most reasons behind the low percentage of organ donation in India are lack of awareness, improper infrastructure facilities, myths and misconceptions regarding organ donation. The demand for organ transplantation worldwide has risen exponentially within the last twenty years because of the increasing incidences of non-communicable illnesses, especially diabetes, hypertension, and obesity. Since these metabolic disorders are found to be related to multiple organ failure, organ transplantation is recognized as a life-saving procedure for patients with potentially terminal illnesses. However, long waiting lists for organ transplantation mean that a lot of patients with end-stage organ failure will die before they even receive a donated organ. The aim of the study was to assess the employees? knowledge & attitude on organ donation which is able to be help to avoid wasting more number of lives further the problems of long waiting lists of patients will receive a donated organ. Methodology: This study was non-experimental study conducted at Apollo Hospitals, Bhubaneswar with 104 employees to assess the knowledge and attitude on organ donation through a self-administered structured cross-sectional questionnaire. The participants were from the different departments of the hospital. (Dialysis technicians, Radiology technician, Physiotherapist, Critical care & Emergency technicians, Nurses of emergency, ward & critical cares, Front line managers, CSSD, MRD were selected using simple random sampling). Results: Out of 104 participants, most of nursing faculty (70.80%) & technicians (Dialysis & ICUs/ER) who were closely in patient care had good knowledge (20.83%) on organ donation than the other employees of different department. Majority of the employees had average knowledge (29.80%) about organ donation; however there is a scope to improve the knowledge (24.03%) as per the total study population. The questionnaire completion rate was 100%. About 37.50% of the study population was agreeable to donating organs after death and 62.50% were undecided. The factors that positively influenced their willingness to donate organs after death were favourable attitude. Conclusion: Healthcare professionals should take a stuffed with life role in clarifying any myths and doubts of individual regarding organ donation. However, the most of the participants had knowledge about organ donation; willingness to donate was found to be limited. Knowledge of the healthcare professionals regarding organ donation becomes the motivation for interaction between general population & healthcare professionals. More general awareness of organ donation & regular workshops/surveys involving the healthcare professionals will slowly awaken more & more positive attitude towards organ donation.