Standardizing Patient Education for Living Kidney Donors

Living kidney donation occurs when a person voluntarily donates a functioning kidney to another individual in need. The kidney donation process is lengthy, complex, and can be overwhelming for many potential donors. A gap was identified in the patient education process at the project site as evidenced by frequent postoperative questions and concerns expressed by living donors and their caregivers. A literature review suggested this was a national problem, yet a standardized education process for living kidney donors has yet to be developed. The purpose of this scholarly project was to develop a standardized process for living kidney donor education comprised of a checklist of teaching materials and topics for the healthcare team and an established education delivery timeline prior to surgery. This DNP scholarly project aimed to answer the following research question: Q1 How can an evidence-based, expert-informed, and standardized patient education process and timeline be developed for integration into an existing living kidney donor program? As guided by the plan do study act model, survey data were collected from 16 transplant team members directly involved in living donor education at the project site. The survey findings revealed that although the required topics were being covered during donor evaluation, there were inconsistencies about which team member was providing the education and at which point during the process each topic should be addressed. The survey results were synthesized with best practices from the literature and regulatory requirements to develop a checklist and timeline aimed at standardizing donor education and strengthening team communication. A pilot plan was iv proposed for implementing and evaluating the checklist and timeline in the future. The project findings have implications for how and when critical information is communicated to potential living kidney donors using a team-based approach.