Donor Training and Nursing Care in Transplantation Process

Organ transplantation is a surgical treatment initiative that has begun to be widely employed worldwide as a treatment option for end-stage organ failure. The number of transplants made from brain-dead cadavers in Turkey is less than the number of patients who need organ transplant. This brought live donors into the spotlight for organ transplant and led to a progressively increasing number of transplants made from live donors. Donors are healthy individuals without any health problems. Therefore, the physical, mental and social problems experienced postoperatively by donors may have implications on their quality of life adversely. Providing high-quality nursing care and education for a donor during the pre-transplant and post-transplant period is effective in preventing complications in donors, improving and maintaining the quality of life in donors. Nurses play a major role in every stage of the education of donors which is crucial to acquire the knowledge, skills, attitudes, and behaviors for becoming self-sufficient in the physical, psychological and social life and for maintaining the care at home. Thus, nurses may also help individuals to maintain their quality of life by enabling them to adapt to any changes in their lives. The purpose of this review is to explain the importance of education and nursing care for donors in increasing their quality of life and prevention of complications in transplantation process