Organ Donation: The Essentials for Healthcare Professionals

Learn about different aspects of organ donation in this CPD-approved course

Despite organ donation being hugely important there is currently limited training for healthcare workforce regarding the complex issues around organ and tissue donation. This course aims to change that.

On the course, created in collaboration with the NHS Blood and Transplant service, you will learn about the basic principles and processes involved in organ donation from the legal aspects, to types of donation, to the importance of communication with families.

Please note that this course will be facilitated by the educators on the third Monday of every month.

This course is for Specialist Nurses in Organ Donation (SNODs), and healthcare professionals such as nurses and doctors of all levels of experience who wish to either update their knowledge or improve their awareness of the subject, for personal or CPD reasons. It will also be useful for students training to become healthcare professionals.

• What is organ donation?
• Introduction to the course
• Why it matters: Overview and epidemiology
• Criteria for donation
• Legal and ethical matters
• Making it happen
• What have I learnt this week?
• The organ donation process
• Donation after Death by Neurological Criteria (DNC, previously known as donation after brainstem death, DBD)
• Donation after Circulatory Death (DCD)
• Checking suitability & managing the potential donor
• The organ retrieval process
• Family care and follow up
• Course wrap-up