Increasing positive attitudes towards organ donation and improving the competence of coping with death through organ transplant nursing course: A two-group quasi-experimental study

Abstract

Aim: The aim of the study was to determine the effect of an organ transplant nursing course offered to nursing students on increasing positive attitudes towards organ donation and developing competence in coping with death. Background: Incorporating organ donation education into undergraduate nursing curricula and promoting of coping mechanisms for coping with death, has been emphasized as a critical foundation for the preparating of the next generation of nurses. Design: Two-groups pre- and post-intervention evaluation quasi-experimental design study. Methods: This study was conducted between February and July 2023 with a total of 237 nursing students studying at two different universities, 116 of whom took the organ transplant course and 121 of whom did not take the course. Sociodemographic Characteristics Form, Coping with Death Scale-Short Form and Organ Donation Attitudes Scale were used for data collection. Mann-Whitney U test, Chi-Square, t-test, Pearson correlation and linear regression were used to analyze the data. Results: There was a statistically significant difference between the students who took organ transplant nursing courses and those who did not in terms of the mean scores of coping with death competence and positive and negative attitudes toward organ donation (p<0.05). It was found that taking an organ transplant nursing course affected nursing students' coping with death competence and their positive and negative attitudes toward organ donation (p <0.01). Conclusion: Taking the organ transplant nursing course was associated with improved competence in coping with death a increased positive and decreased negative attitudes.