There is a critical mismatch between available organs for transplant and acutely or critically
ill patients with end-stage organ disease. Patients who may benefit from organ
transplantation far outnumber available organs. The causes for this imbalance are multiple.
One cause is family refusal to donate. A second cause is nonrecognition or delay in
determination of brain death. A third cause is donor loss due to profound cardiopulmonary
and metabolic instability consequent to brain-stem herniation and brain death. Family …

Critical care nurses play a vital role in the clinical management of potential organ donors.
Knowledge of the physiologic traits a donor will exhibit and the clinical interventions
necessary to prevent circulatory collapse are essential in providing care to the organ donor.
Maintaining hemodynamic stability in the donor optimizes organ function and improves the
chances of successful results in transplant recipients.