Hostility toward Caregivers as a Selection Criterion for Transplantation

Abstract

Researchers have focused on hostility and aggression of psychiatric patients but little is known about what effects transplant candidates' hostility toward their caregivers has on the care the candidates receive. Hostility is defined as any verbal, nonverbal, or physical behavior which threatens persons or property. Although hostility may be one of the precipitating factors in the need for an organ transplant, it may also be a response of the patient to his or her condition. This study focused on whether transplant coordinators felt that hostility should be used as a criterion for accepting or rejecting a transplant candidate. A nonexperimental descriptive survey design targeted 559 organ transplant coordinators who were members of the North American Transplant Coordinators Organization. Many coordinators in this study (62%) felt that a hostile candidate should not receive an organ transplant. Different methods of caring for hostile patients should be explored, especially for those who are antagonistic and who exhibit aggressive behaviors. Given the scarcity of donor organs, ethical principles must guide the allocation of these organs and the selection of transplant recipients.