Skip to main content
Image relating to Learn more about our specialist nurses offering advice and guidance on organ donation

Learn more about our specialist nurses offering advice and guidance on organ donation

University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire (UHCW) NHS Trust is shining a light on the importance of organ donation this September.

Councils, businesses, hospitals and community groups across the country are joining together for Organ Donation Week between September 18 and 24 to encourage people to confirm their support for organ donation by adding their name and decision to the NHS Organ Donor Register.

At present, there are around 7,000 people waiting for a transplant. However, as only 1,400 people die in circumstances where organ donation is possible, every donation is precious and can make such a difference.

Margaret Hudson, a Specialist Nurse for Organ Donation and Transplantation (SNOD) at UHCW, tells us more about her role.

What is your role?

I am a Specialist Nurse for Organ Donation and Transplantation (SNOD). My role covers a specific geographical area, which is the Midlands, but if required this can be other parts of the UK. My base hospitals are UHCW, Warwick and George Eliot.

My role is supporting the patient and their loved ones through end-of-life care, fulfilling their wishes and helping to see through their legacies. Losing a loved one can be traumatic and unexpected, but we spend as much time with the family as they need, helping them to come to terms with the situation they find themselves in and to also explore any end-of-life wishes the patient may have.

As Specialist Nurses at UHCW our service can be accessed 24 hours a day 365 day a year through our referral system but on a day-to-day basis we are on site as experts in the field of organ/tissue donation and transplantation.

Describe a typical day

No two days are the same, as there are multiple aspects to the role. The on-call rota forms a large part of our working week, which can typically find us in different NHS Trusts across the Midlands supporting the clinicians and families through difficult conversations, providing them with expert knowledge around organ/tissue donation.  

We also provide teaching where possible to help staff understand the organ donation process and our role as specialist nurses within this area, and the importance of their role within the process of fulfilling a patient’s last known wishes in relation to end of life care. Hospital engagement and promotional activity is also integral to what we do.

What’s the best thing about your job?

It is an honour to be present with a family during what can be one of their darkest days and to be able to bring some light into such a desperate time in their lives. It is such an intimate and emotional time in a family’s life and being given the opportunity to potentially create a legacy and positive memory from such a traumatic time for them, we hope, will help them to find some comfort in the days, weeks and years to come.

Being a Specialist Nurse for Organ Donation and Transplantation can be difficult at times. Personally, ensuring end of life care is the best it can possibly be for both the patient and their family is most important to me in my role.

 

Organ donation will only go ahead with the support of the family. This means it is just as important as ever to add your name and decision on the NHS Organ Donor Register, because families are more likely to support the decision of someone who has registered.

Take two minutes to confirm your decision at www.organdonation.nhs.uk and you could help save up to nine lives.

Share this story



Latest stories


Back