Spirituality as a Predictive Factor for Signing an Organ Donor Card

Purpose:

Organ donation in the Western world is entirely dependent on the willingness of people to donate organs after their death. In Israel, the wish to donate organs posthumously is expressed by signing an organ donor card. Spirituality as the fundamental dimension of people's overall well-being might affect the willingness to sign an organ donor card. The purpose of the current study was to examine the differences in spirituality and attitudes toward organ donation between people who signed and those who did not sign an organ donor card.   

Methods:

A descriptive cross-sectional survey. The sample included 312 respondents from the general population. Respondents completed a web-based questionnaire consisting of three sections: spirituality, attitudes towards organ donation, and social-demographic questions.

Results:

The differences in mean scores between respondents who signed an organ donor card and those who didn’t were indicated in transcendental spirituality (p<.01) and attitudes toward organ donation (p<.01). No statistically significant difference was found between the groups in the overall spirituality mean score. The spiritual transcendental dimension and attitudes toward organ donation explained 24.9% of the variance of signing an organ donor card.  

Conclusion:

Signing an organ donor card can be explained by low levels of transcendental spirituality and positive attitudes toward organ donation. Nurses should assess the patient’s spiritual needs in order to construct appropriate programs for promoting signing an organ donor card.