Introduction: Organ transplantation is an established form of treatment for patients with end-stage organ failure. The procedures for identifying potential donors and the appropriate professional approach are becoming increasingly important in the work of healthcare workers. According to scientific literature, professional knowledge, experience and personal beliefs regarding organ donation play a decisive role in ensuring an appropriate approach and attitude of healthcare workers towards organ donation. Given that healthcare workers are the main link in the transplantation process and a reliable source of information for other people, we were interested in the attitudes of healthcare workers towards organ donation. Purpose: Firstly, the purpose of this master’s thesis is to present transplantation activities and explain the process of organ donation in Slovenia. Secondly, we describe the legal regulations for donor recruitment and compare transplantation activities in Slovenia with those in other Eurotransplant member countries. And thirdly, we discuss some past pieces of research on the attitudes of healthcare workers towards organ donation and highlight the ethical dilemmas or burdens which may arise when working in transplantation activities. The objective of the survey was to determine the attitudes of healthcare workers towards organ donation at the University Clinical Centre (UKC) in Ljubljana. Working methods: In the first part of the master’s thesis, the descriptive method was used. In the empirical part, a qualitative method of data collection was used and we processed the data obtained with a semi-structured expert interview. The conducted interviews were audio-recorded with the consent of the interviewees. Later, each interview was transcribed in full to facilitate data analysis. For the qualitative data analysis, we used the coding procedures of qualitative content analysis. Results: We found that, according to the interviewed healthcare workers, the transplantation activities in Slovenia are well organised. Healthcare workers who are in direct contact with transplantation activities have a positive attitude towards them. Eight out of eleven interviewees would donate their organs, despite the fact that only one out of eleven is registered in the donor register. Healthcare workers believe that they and the media influence the general population's opinion on organ donation. However, we noted a lack of general knowledge among healthcare workers regarding the whole transplantation process. Discussion and conclusion: We established that there is a lack of regular or mandatory training on transplantation activities. It is important that healthcare workers are familiar with the whole transplantation process. This can only be achieved through regular training and education on transplantation activities. This ensures that knowledge is improved and a positive cultural belief about organ donation is created among healthcare workers.
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