It’s a figure Scotland should be proud of. More than half the population have now signed up for the Organ Donor Register – a much higher percentage than the UK as a whole.
The message is clearly getting through that donating organs and tissue saves and improves lives.
More than 470 transplants were carried out last year, including some from living donors, often close relatives, who were found to be the best match for patients suffering from kidney failure.
Show all Medical jobs across Scotland
Meanwhile there are still more than 550 potential recipients on the waiting list, hoping for an organ transplant to save or transform their lives.
The growth of the Organ Donor Register has come about as the result of some high-profile campaigns that have made the public think hard about what they can do to help people suffering from disease or who have been injured in accidents.
Now the Scottish government has gone one step further and introduced proposals to change the law on organ and tissue donation to a “soft opt-out” system that would allow parts of an adult’s body to be used in transplants in the absence of express permission but with the agreement of families and next of kin.
Working with relatives at this difficult time is the job of nurses with the NHS Blood and Transplant service.
They are the ones who raise the issue with families, organise the donation process and work both on the transplant unit and in the theatre during surgery.
You can find all kinds of nursing vacancies on s1jobs but to do this particular job you must first have experience of critical care or an emergency department.
Further in-depth training will be given and educating other members of staff about donation is also part of the job remit.
This isn’t a nine-to-five gig. Organs can become available at any time of the night or day and time plays a critical part in the success of any operation, so Transplant Nurses work a 24-hour on call rota, 365 days a year, so that no chance to save a life is ever lost.
It’s not the role for everyone but for those who can do it there is huge satisfaction in helping a family feel something good can come out of their loss and, of course, in giving patients on the waiting list a second chance at life.
For all the latest Medical/Dental/Health Care vacancies visit s1jobs.