Authors

Patricia Martín Sánchez

Position

Enfermera

Contact address

Patricia Martín Sánchez. C/ Castilla, 47. 28039 Madrid.

Contact email: patricia.martinsanc@gmail.com

Abstract

One of the scenarios that has been considered for the past years in order to address the need for organs to conduct transplants is the so-called donation in asystole (DA), or donation from persons whose death has been diagnosed through circulatory and respiratory criteria, identified as one of the areas with more room for improvement in Spain. This article is a reflection about the ethical conflicts that might arise during the different stages of the procedure for organ donation at uncontrolled asystole, in the setting of Spanish Emergency Services. It intends to facilitate the deliberative process of the ethical issues that the Nursing professional can consider during the procedure, according to the four principles in bioethics: autonomy, beneficence, non-maleficence, and justice. The purpose is to achieve that all current practices have ethical justification, and at the same time are useful as a strategy to increase the number of organs viable for transplantation.

Keywords:

Donation; uncontrolled asystole; trasplant; Bioethics

Versión en Español

Título:

Conflictos éticos de la donación de órganos en asistolia no controlada