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Alpha and omega: the grief of the heart donor family
Author(s) -
Pittman Susan J.
Publication year - 1985
Publication title -
medical journal of australia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.904
H-Index - 131
eISSN - 1326-5377
pISSN - 0025-729X
DOI - 10.5694/j.1326-5377.1985.tb119953.x
Subject(s) - grief , confusion , donation , heart transplantation , medicine , transplantation , psychology , intensive care medicine , psychiatry , surgery , psychoanalysis , political science , law
This paper focuses on the grief experienced by the families of persons whose hearts have been donated; it is also about the future of the heart transplantation programme at St Vincent's Hospital and the role continuing donation plays. The article makes suggestions about the future management of the heart donor process in order to avoid confusion of the pain of loss with the decision to donate a heart.