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Abstract

Background

Transplant coordinators face ethical conflicts in various situations, such as deciding who should receive organ donations and how to consider patient costs and such conflicts are expected to be more frequent in Korea, as organ transplant coordinators in the country perform both organ acquisition and transplantation.

Research Aim

This study aims to develop an ethics education program to enhance organ transplant coordinators’ ethical competence and address the ethical conflicts faced by them during clinical practice.

Research design

A descriptive study.

Participants and research context

An online survey was conducted from March 22 to May 28, 2021. The study was conducted among 160 registered members of the Korea Organ Transplant Coordinators Association. Ultimately, 87 participants agreed to participate in the study.

Ethical considerations

Permission to conduct the study was obtained from the Institutional Review Board.

Results

The study revealed variations in the degree of ethical conflict based on the participants' general characteristics. Furthermore, organ transplant coordinators exhibited high levels of ethical competence and expressed a need for ethics education. The findings also indicated a positive correlation between higher ethical competence and greater demand for ethics education.

Conclusions

Based on the findings, developing standardized ethics education programs tailored to organ transplant coordinators is recommended. These programs should focus on improving ethical decision-making skills and establishing professional ethics. The education provided should be practical, applicable in the clinical setting, and responsive to the participants’ awareness and concerns regarding ethics education.

Keywords

Organ transplant coordinators ethics conflict competence education

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Organ Donation and Transplantation Coordinators' Experience and needs for ethics education

Abstract

Background

Research Aim

Research design

Participants and research context

Ethical considerations

Results

Conclusions

Keywords

Get full access to this article

References

Supplementary Material