PNTB’s mission includes educating medical professionals about organ, tissue and eye donation. The hospital services team provides materials, inservices and individual education as requested to help hospitals maximize organs and tissue for transplantation. The team also provides designated requestor training to certify hospital staff to approach families about donation.
Inservices
Medical professional education can include arranging and/or providing presentations and materials at:
- New staff orientation (hospital-wide and unit-specific)
- Resident orientation
- Continuing education workshops / classes
- Nurses skills days
- Medical conferences and symposiums
- Brown-bag lunch talks to staff
- Nearly any appropriate forum can be an educational opportunity
Contact PNTB at (503) 494-5560 to request professional education.
Designated Requestor Training
To ensure that each family of a potential organ or tissue donor is given the opportunity to make an informed choice about donation, PNTB provides training to certify hospital staff as Designated Requestors. If you are interested in becoming a Designated Requestor, you should speak to your unit’s nurse educator to find out whether there is a need for your unit and shift.
CMS Conditions of Participation (Federal Register, June 22, 1998; 42CRF§482.45) mandate that only Designated Requestors may approach families about donation. Donation agency coordinators are also Designated Requestors and may approach families in person or on the phone.
A 1998 study(1) showed that family consent rates are significantly higher when a team approach (where a designated requestor and hospital staff member who has a relationship with the family approach the family together) is used — 71.7 percent — than the 53.2 percent rate experienced when a hospital staff member approaches the family alone.
For questions about Designated Requestor training, contact PNTB at (503) 494-5560.
Public Education and Outreach
PNTB partners with Donate Life Northwest (formerly Oregon Donor Program), our local affiliate of the national Coalition on Donation, to provide community education on organ and tissue donation.
Footnotes
(1) Gortmaker S., Beasley C., Sheehy E., Lucas B., Brigham L., Grenvik A., Patterson R., Garrison N., McNamara P. and Evanisko M. Improving the request process to increase family consent for organ donation. Journal of Transplant Coordination. 1998; 8(4):210-16. [return to citation 1]