Emotional paths of professional experiences in transplant coordinators

Abstract

Background and objective: To look at transplant coordinators' professional narratives and explore their emotional experiences, coping strategies, needs and demands in relation to the donation interview.

Materials and methods: Exploratory, transversal, multicenter design, using grounded theory, qualitative approach and content analysis of open-ended questionnaire and semistructured interviews with 22 transplant coordinators from the Andalusian Public Health System. Categories of analysis: Transplant coordination: perceptions, functions, impact and consequences; Positive/gratifying aspects and negative/ difficult aspects; Donation interview; Coping strategies; Needs, demands and suggestions.

Results: Transplant coordinators maintain a polarized perspective on their work, which they describe as a challenge and an opportunity. They highlight both their satisfaction and professional commitment as their work difficulties and requirements, which represent stress factors with an impact on professionals' perceptions, life styles, identity or physical and psychical life. Most gratifying work aspects refer to professional excellence, successful transplants and relationship with patients and their families. The donation interview is considered to be the most stressful moment, in response to which coordinators develop different emotional paths, conditioned by their experience, families' response to donation and its interpretation by the health team and professional (self) evaluation. Main professional demands are training strategies, group therapies and institutional support.

Conclusions: The complexity and emotional intensiveness of transplant coordination require special interventions aiming to enable professionals towards an improvement of their emotional heath and management.

Keywords: Emociones; Emotions; Health personnel; Investigación cualitativa; Obtención de órganos y tejidos; Organ transplantation; Personal de salud; Qualitative research; Tissue and organ procurement; Trasplante de órganos.