Brain death: Knowledge of Nursing and Medicine students

Abstract

Purpose: To identify the knowledge level on brain death among Medicine and Nursing students. Methods: This was an exploratory study of quantitative approach in which students answered a questionnaire with ten closed questions on the brain death during the period from October twenty-four to thirty-one, 2008. The population was composed by Nursing students from the second through the eighth semesters, and Medicine students from the first through the ninth semesters amounting 531 students. A descriptive statistics was used to assess the data. Results: Students knew the meaning of brain death, but they didn’t know the brain death’s physiological alterations. Medicine and Nursing students showed they have low level of knowledge on the metabolic and heart alterations, same as to the care with the organ donor. Conclusion: It was concluded that students aren’t well prepared by the college to care a patient with brain death in their future professional life. The inclusion of brain death in the Medicine and Nursing curriculum is quite relevant.