María Soria-Oliver is an associate professor of social psychology and vice-dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences, UNIR-International University of La Rioja, Spain.
Begoña Aramayona is an undergraduate fellow, María J. Martín and José M. Martínez are associate professors, and Rubén García-Sánchez is an assistant professor in the Department of Social Psychology and Methods, Faculty of Psychology, Autonomous University of Madrid, Spain.
Am J Crit Care. 2020 Sep 1;29(5):358-368. doi: 10.4037/ajcc2020960.
Most family members of potential organ donors experience the death of their relative in an intensive care unit. While under an emotional burden, bereaved relatives must make a decision that will affect the life of other patients. A better understanding of grief within the context of organ donation will help intensive care unit staff better support families during this process.
To empirically describe the emotional reactions of potential organ donors' family members facing a loved one's death and analyze the relationship of these reactions to factors that occur in the process of illness and death.
A prospective observational study was conducted in 16 Spanish hospitals for 36 months. Data of 421 relatives of potential organ donors, collected through a previously validated instrument, included relatives' emotional responses, deceased's and relatives' characteristics, circumstances of death, and behavior of health care staff.
Unexpected deaths were linked to more intense emotional reactions and less acceptance of death than were anticipated deaths. Additional stressors, such as perception of poor treatment by hospital staff, perception of deficient medical care, and poor relationships among family members, were associated with stronger reactions.
Observation and analysis of the factors studied may help hospital staff members anticipate bereaved relatives' emotional reactions and provide better support during the grieving process, increasing family members' well-being and facilitating a better-informed organ donation decision.
大多数潜在器官捐献者的家属在重症监护病房经历亲人的死亡。在承受情感负担的同时，悲痛的家属必须做出一个将影响其他患者生命的决定。更好地了解器官捐献背景下的悲伤，将有助于重症监护病房的工作人员在这一过程中更好地支持家属。
从实证角度描述潜在器官捐献者家属在面对亲人死亡时的情绪反应，并分析这些反应与疾病和死亡过程中发生的因素之间的关系。
在 36 个月内，在 16 家西班牙医院进行了前瞻性观察研究。通过先前验证的工具收集了 421 名潜在器官捐献者家属的数据，包括家属的情绪反应、死者和家属的特征、死亡情况以及医护人员的行为。
意外死亡与更强烈的情绪反应和对死亡的接受程度较低有关，而预期死亡则不然。其他压力源，如医院工作人员治疗不佳的感知、医疗保健不足的感知以及家庭成员之间关系不佳，与更强烈的反应有关。
观察和分析所研究的因素可以帮助医院工作人员预测悲痛的家属的情绪反应，并在悲伤过程中提供更好的支持，增加家属的幸福感，并促进更明智的器官捐献决策。
