Blood, organ and bone marrow donation: Reporting on the attitudes, related to socio-emotional determinants, among nursing students in Greece

Abstract

Greece is one of the countries with the lowest occurrence of blood, organ, and bone marrow donors. Sociodemographic and other psycho-emotional features such as self-efficacy seem to be linked to attitudes regarding registering as a donor. The aim of this study was to explore the attitudes of nursing students regarding blood, organ and bone marrow donation and socio-emotional background. The study was conducted among the students of the Nursing Department at the University of Thessaly in Central Greece. An electronic self-administered questionnaire was distributed to 480 students and 345 students (response rate: 71.8%) completed the questionnaire. The questionnaire consisted of socio-demographic information, and six questions, concerning knowledge, attitudes and practices towards blood, organ and bone marrow donation. Emotional Discomfort Scale (EmoD), an 8-item tool was also used in order to identify if emotional discomfort through daily activities influences beliefs and responses of the participants. Only one out of five participants had donated blood voluntarily while those who had been already registered as organ and bone marrow donors were quite few, 1.4% and 6.4% respectively. Moreover, only 15.1% of the participants were aware of the legislative framework concerning organ, tissue and bone marrow donation. Multivariate analysis showed that age, nationality and routine emotional discomfort were determinants of blood and organ donation composite score. The use of EmoD Scale could help professionals in health care and social fields to better screen for emotional complexity to become donor, and act in order to positively alter people's attitudes. © 2022