Conhecimento de médicos e enfermeiros sobre morte encefálica e doação de órgãos

Abstract

To analyze the knowledge of doctors and nurses working in Intensive Care Units and emergency sectors about brain death and organ donation, to characterize sociodemographic data, training time and work experience and to correlate the knowledge and perception of doctors and nurses on brain death and organ donation. Methods: observational, cross-sectional study with descriptive design, quantitative approach of the analytical type with correlation between variables. To analyze the correlation of knowledge between nurses and physicians regarding the questions in the questionnaire, the Chi-Square or Fisherb's Exact Test was used. The study was carried out with doctors and nurses who work at night and during the day in the Intensive Care Units and emergency rooms in three teaching hospitals in the interior of the state of São Paulo. Results: 100 professionals, 58 nurses and 42 doctors participated. Of these professionals, 79% are in the ICUs and 21% in the emergency sectors. In the sociodemographic data of the participants, the average age of the nurses was 34 years ± 7 years and the median was 35 years. The mean age of the physicians was 34 years ± 7 years and a median of 32 years. The time of work experience of the professionals was more than five years (50%), from one to five years (43%) and less than one year (7%). Among the physicians with the greatest experience, it was from one to five years and of the nurses, more than five years of experience. Of the professionals analyzed (76%) had a graduate degree (Latu Sensu), (4.0%) a master's degree, (2.0%) a doctorate and (1.0%) a postdoctoral degree. In the correlation of doctors and nurses in the question: what ideal temperature to start the brain death protocol, 78% of professionals answered assertively (p=0.002). In the correlation of the Intensive Care Units with the Emergency Rooms in the question: The apnea test should be performed at which moment of the Brain Death diagnosis, (70%) were unable to inform (p=0.010). When the professionals questioned: after the confirmation of brain death, when should the notification be carried out according to resolution 2173/2017 of the Federal Council of Medicine, (74%) were right, that notification is mandatory in all patients with suspected brain death (p=0.003). Participants self-assessed with regular knowledge (69%) about brain death, with a correlation between the ICU work sectors and emergency rooms (p=0.032). Among these, the professionals who work in the ICU demonstrate greater knowledge on the subject when compared to those who work in the Emergency Units. The contributions of this research are relevant to clinical practice, the work and knowledge of physicians and nurses about brain death and organ donation are relevant to early identification of potential donors. Conclusion: the professionals showed deficient knowledge in the early identification of potential donors and application of the clinical tests necessary for the diagnosis of brain death. It was identified the need for more knowledge on the subject for all professionals involved in the process. It is essential that there is training, recurrent training, educational measures and sensitization of the teams, in these research sites.