Spirituality as a predictive factor for signing an organ donor card

Purpose: To examine differences in spirituality, purpose in life, and attitudes toward organ donation between people who signed and those who did not sign an organ donor card.

Design: A descriptive cross-sectional survey conducted in Israel with a sample of 312 respondents from the general population, of whom 220 (70.5%) signed an organ donor card. Data were collected during April-June 2013.

Methods: Participants completed a paper questionnaire and a Web-based questionnaire consisting of four sections: spiritual health, purpose in life, attitudes toward organ donation, and social-demographic questions. Descriptive statistics, t test, chi-square test, and a logistic regression analysis were performed.

Findings: Differences in mean scores between respondents who signed an organ donor card and those who did not were indicated in transcendental spirituality (p < .01), purpose in life (p < .05), and attitudes toward organ donation (p < .01). No statistically significant difference was found between the groups in the overall spirituality mean score. The spiritual transcendental dimension, individual's purpose in life, and attitudes toward organ donation explained 34.3% of the variance of signing an organ donor card.

Conclusions: Signing an organ donor card was found to be correlated with high purpose in life, positive attitudes toward organ donation, and low level of transcendental spirituality.

Clinical relevance: Nurses should assess the patient's spiritual needs in order to construct appropriate programs for promoting signing an organ donor card. Nurses who signed an organ donor card should be encouraged to share this information with their patients.