An Integrative Review on Exploring Organ Donation After Death by Circulatory Criteria in Canada.
Kendra-Lee Dupuis, Amina Silva, Vanessa Silva E Silva
PMID 40509805WHAT IT FOUND
Canadian donation after circulatory death has grown, but published practice varies in medications, timing, airway management and local protocols; guidance recommends clear withdrawal-of-care protocols, family communication and separation of roles.
Key findings
01The review found three themes describing how Canadian DCC evolved: guideline development, program development and delivery experiences, and perspectives and understanding.
02Published Canadian DCC practice varied in medication use, nutrition support, time from hypotension to death, diagnostic procedures, airway management and whether policies existed.
03Barriers included unclear guidelines, role ambiguity, education gaps and resource limits; recommendations included separate patient-care and donation roles and family support.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The included studies differed in design, population and context. This made comparison and synthesis difficult. The review included many consensus meetings, guideline summaries and discussion papers, not only primary studies. The mixed-design approach carried a risk of bias in data selection and analysis, and variable article quality means some findings may be less reliable.
Declared interests
The authors reported no financial support for the work and no potential conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read this review as evidence that any DCC protocol improves patient, donor or transplant outcomes. It summarizes published guidelines, experiences and perspectives, and reports variability and education gaps without testing an intervention in patients.