2022 Volume 17 Pages 1-15
The purpose of this study in the field of organ transplant nursing was to explore predicting factors of ethical distress in recipient transplant coordinators (RTCs). A multiple-choice questionnaire survey was sent to all RTCs working at organ transplant facilities throughout Japan. Eighty-four completed surveys were returned for a response rate of 47.5%. Exploratory analysis of the responses to the items on 30 ethical situations in 3 transplantation domains (general, living donors, and brain death donors) revealed that the ethical distress construct had a 3-factor structure: inappropriateness of transplant, lack of confidence as an RTC, and obstacles to the ethical performance of duty. Multiple regression analysis using the subscale scores for each of these factors as outcome variables and personal characteristics, RTC-related characteristics, environmental characteristics, and ethical characteristics as the explanatory variables revealed that RTC position type (concurrent post, full-time), RTC experience, and transplant caseload were poor predictors of ethical distress in RTCs.
