Base your initial post on the paragraph below, your readings and research on this topic.
Renal transplant surgery is the oldest and most successful type of organ transplant yet the
United Network for Organ sharing (UNOS) reports there are insufficient number of
available organs to meet the growing needs of individuals who require this surgical
procedure. The source of a kidney for transplantation may be from a living or deceased
donor.
After reflecting on the above paragraph, discuss the following points (minimum of 250
words):
What is the professional nurse’s role in organ donation?
Are there ethical considerations associated with living donors? Explain.
Should donors or their families be financially compensated for their donation? Why or why
not?
Renal Transplant Surgery
Role of Nursing In Renal Transplant Surgery
Patients that have undergone kidney transplants require long-term support than most
relatives, friends or healthcare providers may realize. The patients need more social support after
the procedure alongside interventions to aid in alleviating problematic medical side effects and
how they can be managed. Nurses play a key role in kidney transplant. According to Kim (2013),
a professional nurse aids the patient in tackling the challenges linked to kidney transplant by
providing psychological, physical as well as educational support to the patient, donor, and family
members before the procedure. Nurses also use their awareness of transplant positioning in the
operating room to provide postoperative care. Additionally, a professional nurse also helps in
monitoring and maintaining fluid volume, hemodynamic status, and the patient’s blood pressure
at physiological range.
Ethical Consideration
Several ethical considerations have been linked to kidney donation. For instance, worries
arise among donors about the intense pressure that is weighed on them resulting to donors who
may be reluctant to donate feel coerced. As a result, healthcare providers are compelled to find a
RENAL TRANSPLANT SURGERY
plausible medical excuse so that the donor can gracefully bow out. Veatch & Ross (2014) report
that donors may feel obligated to donate regardless of the consequences to themselves. Take a
case of a parent who opts to donate both lobes of her kidney in a bid to save her child without
realizing that she is making a life-threatening sacrifice. Clinicians should conduct a thorough
scrutiny to identify the motive of some donors (Kjellstran & Dossetor, 2013). For example, cases
have been reported whereby an individual donates his/her kidney due to low self-esteem or
depression, media attention, or have the intention of harboring the life of the recipient.
Compensation for Family member’s of Organ Donors
Indeed, kidney donors should be compensated. This is because the donors have to absorb
and pay the cost of a month spent recovering from the surgical procedure. The donors end up
missing work and child care. They also risk losing their jobs during their recovery period. Donor
compensation is the right thing to do. It is unfortunate that the surgeon gets paid, so is the
nephrologists, the hospital, insurer, and the patient also gets a new kidney. Why would everyone
be paid except the donor?
RENAL TRANSPLANT SURGERY
References
Kim, S. (2013). Compassion fatigue in liver and kidney transplant nurse coordinators: a
descriptive research study. Progress in Transplantation,23(4), 329-335.
Kjellstrand, C., & Dossetor, J. B. (Eds.). (2013). Ethical problems in dialysis and
transplantation (Vol. 33). Springer Science & Business Media.
Veatch, R. M., & Ross, L. F. (2014). Transplantation ethics. Georgetown University Press.