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How to Write a Patient Notification Report

You and your colleagues have been asked to explain treatment options to Mr. McGrath. Specifically, Dr. Schaffer has asked you to explain the following to your patient:

• His surgical fitness test results and what they indicate.


• Live donation, including:
  • What live donation is and why it is the best option for him.
  
  
  • The important characteristics of a live donor.
  
  
• Instructions on what he needs to do next to find a live donor.

The following step-by-step will help you do your work.

1. Review Dr. Schaffer’s email. It may be helpful to print the email and highlight the important points.


2. Explain Mr. McGrath’s surgical fitness. Using your notes from Task 3: Explain Diagnosis to Patient and the surgical fitness results Dr. Schaffer gave you in her recent email, explain to Mr. McGrath his test results and why they indicate he is a good candidate for the transplant surgery.


3. Explain organ donation options. Explain to Mr. McGrath the options for procuring him a new liver.
   
   
   1. Cadaveric Donation—A cadaveric donation is an organ donation that comes from a deceased person. Review the resource materials on UNOS and the MELD score. Be sure you can answer the following questions:
      
      
      1. What is UNOS? What do they do?
      
      
      2. What is the MELD score? What does it mean?
      
      
   2. Live Donation—Using the materials provided on the resources page, research live donor organ transplants. Be sure you can answer the following questions:
      
      
      1. What is live donation?
      
      
      2. What are the characteristics of a good live donor?
      
      
4. Determine Mr. McGrath’s next steps. Using the links on the resource page, determine what Mr. McGrath should do to help find a live donor.


5. Download the Patient Notification Report Template. Using the template, complete a report for Mr. McGrath.
   
   
   1. In the Test Results section of the template, report Mr. McGrath's surgical fitness test results and what they mean.
   
   
   2. In Treatment Options and Next Steps section, review live donation including:
      1. Why Mr. McGrath needs to use a live donor.
      2. The characteristics of a good live donor.
      3. What Mr. McGrath should do to help find a donor.


6. Review your work. Make sure you have covered each of the points outlined above.


7. Submit your assignment to your mentor. Review the checklist found on the Submit Your Work section of this task and submit the assignment to your mentor.

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• If you need help on explaining any of the science to your patient, refer back to the notes and resources you have used in previous tasks.


• As you are writing your report, remember you are trying to help your patient understand this information. It may help to think about what you would want to know if you were in his situation.

 

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Transplant Resources

UNOS and Transplant Issues FAQ (Note: This is the same resource provided in Task 3: Explain Diagnosis to Patient.)

UNOS Transplant Statistics
Link to current (as of the day) stats on waiting list, transplants performed in the last year, and donors in the last year.

Donation Statistics
Statistics related to organ donation.

Transplant Living: Organ Allocation Information
This page offers great resources on organ matching and organ allocation policies. Be sure to click each link for more information.

Transplant Q&A
This is a great question and answer page written for patients who have been told they need an organ transplant.

Living Donation Resources

Living Donation Facts
This comprehensive source offers a great overview on living donation. Be sure to explore the bulleted links in the left menu for more information. As a quick reference, here are direct links within the source for information on:

Living Donor Qualifications
What makes a good donor?
Living Donation Types

Living Donor Q&A
This link offers a comprehensive Q&A about this issues surrounding live donor transplants.

Required Tests for Living Donors
This link offers an overview of additional tests donors must undergo to determine their suitability as a match. Note: For the purposes of this rotation you only need to consider blood typing and compatibility. There are no tissue-typing issues involved with a liver transplant.

Assessment of Potential Donors
Written to potential donors, this link offers a look at what tests a person must undergo to determine both surgical fitness and organ compatibility.

Recipient Resources

What does the transplant patient do next?
This link offers some next steps for patients, once doctors have determined that living donation is the best option. When reviewing this link, focus on the question "What do I do first?" Note: People who wish to express interest in being a live donor must contact the hospital themselves, to avoid any issues of coercion. The hospital will not contact them.

Living Donation Experiences
Written from the perspectives of both the donor and the recipient, this link offers actual stories of patients shos have been through a living donor transplant. Note: The experiences are organized on the site by the type of organ transplant.

Ask the Expert

What types of liver donation exist?

What is the MELD score?

Why do we use a MELD score?

What should a doctor keep in mind when discussing a diagnosis and/or treatment with a patient?