• Zaneta Smith, Gavin Leslie, and Dianne Wynaden.
• Princess Margaret Hospital for Children, Department of Health, WA, Australia; School of Nursing & Midwifery, Griffith University, QLD, Australia. Electronic address: zaneta.smith@bigpond.com.au.
• Int J Nurs Stud. 2015 Mar 1; 52 (3): 705-15.

Introduction/BackgroundMulti-organ procurement surgical procedures through the generosity of deceased organ donors, have made an enormous impact on extending the lives of recipients. There is a dearth of in-depth knowledge relating to the experiences of perioperative nurses working closely with organ donors undergoing multi-organ procurement surgical procedures.AimThe aim of this study was to address this gap by describing the perioperative nurses experiences of participating in multi-organ procurement surgical procedures and interpreting these findings as a substantive theory.DesignThis qualitative study used grounded theory methodology to generate a substantive theory of the experiences of perioperative nurses participating in multi-organ procurement surgery.SettingRecruitment of participants took place after the study was advertised via a professional newsletter and journal. The study was conducted with participants from metropolitan, rural and regional areas of two Australian states; New South Wales and Western Australia.ParticipantsThirty five perioperative nurse participants with three to 39 years of professional nursing experience informed the study.MethodsSemi structured in-depth interviews were undertaken from July 2009 to April 2010 with a mean interview time of 60 min. Interview data was transcribed verbatim and analysed using the constant comparative method.ResultsThe study results draw attention to the complexities that exist for perioperative nurses when participating in multi-organ procurement surgical procedures reporting a basic social psychological problem articulated as hiding behind a mask and how they resolved this problem by the basic social psychological process of finding meaning.ConclusionThis study provides a greater understanding of how these surgical procedures impact on perioperative nurses by providing a substantive theory of this experience. The findings have the potential to guide further research into this challenging area of nursing practice with implications for clinical initiatives, management practices and education.Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

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