Does Death Anxiety Affect the Attitude Towards Organ Donation?

Abstract

It is important to determine the attitudes of nurse candidates towards organ transplantation and their death anxiety levels to help patient families make an informed decision about organ donation. The aim of this study is to examine nurse candidates' public knowledge and attitude towards organ donation. The research was conducted with nursing students at the Faculty of Health Sciences, between December 2021 and February 2022. Data were collected using a personal information form, Fear of Death Scale (FODS), and Organ Donation Attitude Scale (ODAS). Our study determined that the percentage of students who wanted to donate organs and the death anxiety average of students were moderate. It was determined that students' positive attitudes towards organ donation were high and negative attitudes were low, and there was a negative relationship between them (p<0.001). In this study, in the comparison of death anxiety by gender, the mean scores of women's death anxiety, thinking about death and witnessing death, suffering, and uncertainty of death were found to be higher than men's, and the difference was significant (p<0.001). As a result, it is thought that improving the attitudes of future nurse candidates towards organ transplantation will significantly affect their organ transplantation decisions. Education is required for students with insufficient experience.