Specialist Nurses Help Boost Transplant Figures

In Ireland, the number of transplants this year has increased following the appointment of six nurses in hospitals across the country who liaise with bereaved families about donating a loved one's organs. So far, 157 transplants have been performed, involving 47 deceased donors and 17 living donors.

For 2015, authorities say, the overall target is to carry out 300 transplants. July was the best month so far, with 36 performed.

"The figures for July, by far the best this year, are encouraging and every effort will continue to be made to achieve the target of 300 transplants this year," according to a spokesman for the Department of Health. "The figure of 294 in 2013 was the highest achieved to date."

The health official noted that the combination of the new Organ Procurement Service and the very recent appointment of six organ donation nurse managers — one in each hospital group — was yielding early results.

The specialist nurses perform a number of roles, including working with families where a patient is critically ill to explore with them the option of organ donation. This means that vital organs which might be lost to patients on waiting lists are offered after consultation with relatives.

Currently, some 600 people are on the transplant list nationwide.

Kidneys can be donated from living donors as a healthy individual can lead a normal life with only one kidney.

Data show that most organ donations come from patients who die of a brain haemorrhage, severe head injury or stroke and are on a ventilator in a hospital intensive care unit (ICU). Death is diagnosed by brain stem tests.

The level of organ donation in 2014 was the second poorest in 20 years, according to Mark Murphy, chief executive of the Irish Kidney Association.

At the end of last year, he noted, there were 74 more adults on kidney dialysis than a year earlier.

Source: Irish Independent
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