Comparison of consent rates between hospital-based designated requestors and organ procurement coordinators.

Abstract

Recent legislation in our service area has put restrictions on who is allowed to approach families about donation. Many hospitals have therefore requested training for designated requestors to speak with families. The organ procurement organization followed the consent rate of 2 hospitals to evaluate the effectiveness of the designated requestors in the consent process. This article compares the success of the hospital-based designated requestor program in obtaining consent with that of another hospital, which relies solely on the organ procurement coordinator to approach families. Thirteen staff members in hospital A received the 8-hour designated requestor training. A decrease in the consent rate at hospital A prompted the organ procurement organization to interview the 13 requestors. Possible reasons for the decline ranged from lack of experience to the lack of identification as donor family advocate. Both hospitals were encouraged to consider a multidisciplinary approach, which includes the organ procurement coordinator in the request process.