What do you say

[whitewriter]

When your really nice patient, whose waiting for his liver transplant in ICU getting sicker by the day, asks you if your an organ donor (such as- on the register).

What do you say?

Imagine that your not on the register.

Or your religion is against organ donation.

Or you are personally uncomfortable with the idea.

He's been in hospital for 6 weeks, slowly getting sicker, such that he now requires ICU admission

He asked me if someone could take his money and go get him some lucosaid drinks from the shop upstairs.

He can't go himself: he's tied to dialysis. Plus I'm pretty sure we don't allow ICU pt to go wandering around even if they were really good.

So I went for him, I spent my own money and considered it a donation. I couldn't take his money.

I found the same drinks for half price at coles on my weekly shop so I actually got 2. I won't be back until Saturday so for the moment they're sitting on my desk at home. I'm not sure if he'll be able to drink them when I do bring them (maybe he'll deteriorate) or if he'll even still be there.

Few dollars.

Some patients stick with you.

Comments

[wendelah1]

If I was not on the register (I am, and I was on the bone marrow donor list, too, when I was still eligible) I would get myself on it; if my religion had been against organ donation, I would have already found a new one; as a transplant nurse, if I had been personally uncomfortable with organ donation, I would have committed myself to figuring out why that was so, since I was an educated, intelligent healthcare professional, and in the meanwhile, I would have done the kind thing and told a white lie to my dying patient: "Yes, of course, I'm on the donor registry." It's not about my comfort zone or about my religious beliefs. It's about the patient.

[whitewriter]

Luckily I also fall in the same category as you, and no white lie was needed.

Registration in Australia is made awfully hard - there's a form you fill out online, they send you something to sign, you have to sign it then return it via post. -- and then your on the register.

They really need to make it simpler or easier. Like the opt out system in France- which is my personal favourite.

When I got back on Saturday he'd had his transplant (yay) but we both know, there's still a long road ahead.