Optimizing the donor detection and referral process in collaboration with organ donation champions: An experience-based review of referral performance from an organ donation unit in Al Ain Region, United Arab Emirates
Jocelyn Gundan1,2, Mareena Jaise Kunnath1,2, Dr. Hala Abuzeid1, Theresa Coelho2, Ancy Thomas2.
1Critical Care , Tawam Hospital, Al Ain, United Arab Emirates; 2Nursing Department, Tawam Hospital, Al Ain, United Arab Emirates; 3Clinical Resources-Nursing Adm, Tawam Hospital, Al Ain, United Arab Emirates
Introduction: With the establishment of Tawam Hospital Organ Donation Unit in September 2019, the SOPs and policy for organ donation have been created to support the process. Organ Donation Champions were identified to collaborate with the OD Coordinators in donor detection and referral. Though the SOPs and policy were implemented, there was a low engagement of OD Champions and no clear data was documented to gauge their support. In order to increase the rate of donor detection and meet the standards of regional KPI, a robust guideline has been implemented to all OD Champions in ICU and PICU.
Method: An education program through Organ Donation Workshop was initiated in year 2020 which focused on organ donation process, from donor detection up to organ retrieval. Over 15 physicians, 220 nurses, and 8 respiratory therapists attended the workshop from year 2020 to 2022.
Three ICU Specialists and 1 OD Nurse Coordinator were assigned and completed the Transplant Procurement Management Advanced International Training Course by Donation and Transplantation Institute (DTI) in year 2021 and 2022.
A back up coordinator protocol has been implemented in March 2022 to support the OD Nurse Coordinators’ downtime schedule. All nursing and medical staff in ICU and PICU were appointed as OD Champions that can directly refer any possible or potential donor to the OD Coordinator on call. Name of referring OD Champions were documented in Deceased Alert System (DAS) Form to determine the level of their engagement in detection and referral.
Result: The implementation of the SOPs and policy in organ donation and back up coordinator protocol has significantly increased the level of engagement of OD Champions in donor detection and referral. From 20% in 2021 to 40% in 2022. Since January to May 2023, it marked an increased rate of 44%.
KPI No.3 (Identification of all Possible Donors in ICU-Target: 75%) and KPI No. 5 (Referral of Potential DeceasedBrain Death Donors-Target: 100%) results were maintained on target direction.
Ten actual donors in a span of 3 years from a region where the local population is high.
Conclusion: The process of donor detection is multifactorial as it evolve attitude, beliefs, knowledge, and human resources. Organ Donation Champions are integral part of the team. It is quite challenging to raise their level of engagement as it require assitance and support in education and training and appreciation to keep the momentum in performance.
