The Nurse's Role in Decision Making in Kidney Donation and Transplantation: A Qualitative Research

Background: The decision to donate an organ, particularly kidney, is extremely challenging and influenced by various factors. Nurses can play a major role in decision-making. Materials and methods: A qualitative design using conventional content analysis approach was used to collect and analyze data. Participants (n=25) were twelve nurse consultants, four physicians, three kidney donors and six family members of patients with brain death were selected using a purposive sample method. A total of 26 semi-structured interviews were conducted. Data were analyzed using MAXQDA 10. Results: Five main themes emerged from this analysis: Counseling (sub-themes: Individual counseling, family counseling), empathy (mutual understanding, continued support of the individuals and the families), mediation (nurse mediation between families and physician , nurse mediation between donor families and recipients of transplanted kidney families), motivation (spiritual motivation, financial motivation, social motivation) and acceptance of kidney donation (accept to pay a donated kidney, accept to receive a donated kidney). Conclusion: The study indicated that the care and treatment team could play a significant role in the deceased family's decision and direct their consent to donation. In this regard, family support and communication with them are mandatory when applying fora donation.