Organ Donation: The Essentials for Healthcare Professionals
Understand the key processes regarding organ donation with this course for healthcare professionals, anywhere in the world.
- Duration2 weeks
- Weekly study2 hours
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.
What topics will you cover?
- Fundamentals of organ donation
- Criteria for donation
- Legal and ethical issues around organ donation
- The role of the Specialist Nurse in Organ Donation
- Donations after Death by Neurological Criteria (Brainstem Death) or Circulatory Death
- Checking donor suitability
- The organ retrieval process
- Family care and follow up
Organ Donation: The Essentials for Healthcare Professionals has been approved by the Federation of the Royal Colleges of Physicians of the United Kingdom for 4 category 1 (external) CPD credit(s). The expiry date for CPD approval is December 2021.
When would you like to start?
Start straight away and learn at your own pace. If the course hasn’t started yet you’ll see the future date listed below.
Available now
What will you achieve?
By the end of the course, you‘ll be able to...
- Explain the importance and basic principles of organ donation
- Summarise the types of donation, organs which can be donated and the absolute contraindications for donation
- Identify the key processes associated with organ donation such as referral, family consent, patient assessment, management of potential donors and organ allocation
- Describe assessing and diagnosing death by neurological criteria and management of a brainstem dead patient
- Evaluate the importance of laws and guidance that governs the process of organ donation and transplantation
- Describe tissue donation and how this is facilitated in UK
- Reflect upon the importance of family communication in the organ donation process
Who is the course for?
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.
Who will you learn with?
Professor of Epilepsy & Medical Education; Mother of a son who donated his organs
Specialist Nurse in Organ Donation (SNOD) NHS Blood and Transplant UK.
Specialist Nurse for Organ Donation 2009 - 2016 NHS Blood & Transplant (NHSBT). Base: St Georges Hospital. Practice Development Specialist (PDS) NHSBT 2016 - present
Who developed the course?
St George's, University of London
St George’s is the UK’s only university dedicated to medical and health sciences education, training and research.
NHS BT
NHS Blood and Transplant provide a blood and transplantation service to the NHS, looking after blood donation services in England and transplant services across the UK.
Learning on FutureLearn
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Map your progress
- As you work through the course, use notifications and the Progress page to guide your learning
- Whenever you’re ready, mark each step as complete, you’re in control
- Complete 90% of course steps and all of the assessments to earn your certificate
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- Access to this course for 4 weeks
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Find out more about upgrades or Unlimited.
Available until 19 April 2021 at 23:59 (UTC). T&Cs apply.
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