Development of a resource manual for critical care nurses caring for culturally diverse families involved in the organ and tissue donation process

Abstract

Approaching ethnocultural families grieving the death of a family member to discuss the option of organ and tissue donation (OTD) can be challenging for nurses. At a large urban multi-site hospital organization in Montreal more than a third of referred and eligible deceased patients are members of an ethnocultural community. Despite the large number of ethnocultural families there is a dearth of knowledge amongst nurses on how to provide culturally congruent care to this population. This resource manual provides nurses with the skills to complete a cultural assessment in order to offer culture congruent care throughout the OTD experience. Leininger’s Theory of Culture Care Diversity and Universality (1988), and Morrison, Ross, Kalman, and Kemp’s Model of Instructional Design (2011) were used to design and plan the contents of a resource manual. The evidence-based manual evaluates nurses’ cultural self-competence, provides an overview of some of Québec’s ethnocultural community OTD process concerns, provides guidance on how to gather pertinent ethnocultural information from families, and how to use the information to offer culture congruent care (Leininger, 1995). This practicum report describes the development of this nursing resource manual and how advanced practice nursing competencies informed the chosen course of action. Included are the methods to evaluate the resource manual and the identification of limitations and recommendations.