Knowledge and Attitude Regarding Organ Transplantation Among Nursing Students: A Descriptive Study

Background Organ transplantation is an established life-saving treatment for patients with severe or irreversible organ failure. The success of transplantation depends not only on advances in surgical and immunological care but also on public understanding, ethical donation practices and willingness to participate in organ donation. Nursing students are future health professionals and can play an important role in providing accurate information, addressing misconceptions and promoting informed attitudes toward organ donation and transplantation. Methods A quantitative, descriptive cross-sectional approach was used to assess knowledge and attitude regarding organ transplantation among nursing students. The uploaded response dataset contained 52 timestamped entries; one record was incomplete in the supplied PDF and could not be used for complete scoring. Therefore, the present analysis is based on 51 complete response records. The questionnaire comprised demographic variables, 17 knowledge questions and 25 five-point Likert attitude statements. Knowledge was scored using one mark for each correct response and categorized as good (75% and above), moderate (50–74%) and poor (below 50%), corresponding to 13–17, 9–12 and 0–8 marks respectively. Results Among the 51 complete records, 39 (76.47%) students were female and 12 (23.53%) were male. The largest age group was 19–20 years (26; 50.98%). Twenty students (39.22%) were first-year students and 19 (37.25%) were fourth-year students. Most students were Hindu (45; 88.24%) and lived in urban areas (38; 74.51%). Forty students (78.43%) reported previous knowledge of organ transplantation. Among these students, the most commonly reported sources were internet/social media and educational curriculum. Knowledge assessment showed that 31 students (60.78%) had good knowledge, 12 (23.53%) had moderate knowledge and 8 (15.69%) had poor knowledge. The mean knowledge score was 12.71 out of 17. Attitude responses showed substantial agreement with several positive statements regarding the life-saving value of transplantation, the need for awareness and voluntary donation; however, the supplied questionnaire did not specify a validated overall attitude cut-off, so attitude was reported as an item-wise response pattern rather than as positive/neutral/negative categories. Conclusion The findings indicate that most of the complete respondents demonstrated good knowledge regarding organ transplantation and generally supportive responses to many attitude statements. Continued educational interventions are recommended to strengthen knowledge, correct misconceptions and encourage ethically informed organ-donation practices among nursing students. DOI: https://doi.org/10.24321/2348.2133.202609 How to cite this article:Raha A, Singh A, Charan A. Knowledge and Attitude Regarding Organ Transplantation Among Nursing Students: A Descriptive Study. Ind J Holist Nurs. 2026;17(4): 1-7.