Certified Clinical Transplant Nurse (CCTN) Practice Exam

The evaluation of a Donation after Cardiovascular Death (DCD) donor includes several critical components to ensure the donor's suitability for organ donation, focusing on medical, physiological, and ethical considerations. Formulating a psychological profile, however, is not a standard component in the evaluation process for DCD donors.

This can be attributed to the nature of DCD itself, where the focus is primarily on the physiological viability of the donor organs and ensuring that the donor meets medical criteria for organ donation following cardiac death. Evaluating the medical history, conducting a neurological assessment, and performing a physical examination with vital sign checks are essential to determine the presence of any contraindications for organ retrieval—such as infections or underlying conditions that may affect organ function.

While psychological well-being is important in many medical contexts, in the specific case of evaluating DCD donors, the emphasis is on ensuring that physical criteria are met, as the prognosis for organ recovery is directly linked to the physiological state at the time of death rather than psychological profiling.