Vascularized composite allotransplantation: Knowledge and attitudes of a national sample of organ procurement organization professionals
Abstract
With the emergence of vascularized composite allografts (VCAs) for transplantation, donation professionals’ ability to obtain authorization for these anatomical gifts has become paramount for its continued practice. Our national study examines the experience of organ procurement organization (OPO) professionals responsible for presenting the opportunity to donate VCAs to families of deceased donor‐eligible patients. Semi‐structured telephone interviews conducted with 157 OPO staff assessed experience with VCA discussions, VCA knowledge, and comfort, confidence, and feeling prepared with discussions about different VCA types. Standard procedures were used to code and analyze the qualitative data and summarize the quantitative data. Most respondents (70.1%) never held a VCA donation discussion, but those with experience reported overall low levels of knowledge, comfort, and confidence talking with families about VCA. Although 44.4% of the sample had VCA‐related training, many felt unprepared, with most (75.0%) stating the training was insufficient. Participants without experience indicated even lower ratings of the aforementioned constructs. Findings support extant work demonstrating that no standardized procedures exist for VCA donation discussions; however, donation professionals are willing to adopt new VCA‐related skills. This report concludes that sustained and content‐specific training will elevate donation professionals’ ability to augment the supply of VCAs available for transplantation.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Pub Defense Publication
- Publication Date
- Sep 30, 2020
- Source ID
- 10.1111/ctr.14071
Entities
People
- David Sarwer
- Ellen E. Davis
- Gerard P Alolod
- Heather Gardiner
- Laura Siminoff
Organizations
- Temple University
- United States Department of Defense