AbstractBackground: Corneal blindness is one of the important types of blindness that can be prevented by proper health care, education and conventionally cured by corneal transplantation for which awareness regarding eye donation is essential. Objectives: To assess the awareness about eye donation among nursing students. Methods: It was a cross-sectional observational study. Settings: BLDE nursing college, Bijapur, Karnataka, India. A total of 380 students of nursing students of BLDE nursing college, Bijapur, were involved in this study. A semi-structured questionnaire was used to collect the data from the students. Results: Majority (72%) of students were aware that eyes could be donated and 28% were not aware about eye donation. 28% knew the ideal time for eye donation. 93% were willing to donate eyes and 12% had already pledged their eyes. Perceived reasons for not pledging eyes by the students were: lack of
awareness (32%), the unacceptable idea of separating the eyes from the body (54%), objection by family members (68%) and religious beliefs (25%).Conclusion: This study revealed that nursing students were well aware of eye donation and most of them inclined to sign-up for eye donation. The information about awareness and willingness for eye donation could help in developing strategies to increase procurement
of corneas for dealing with corneal blindness. The reasons for not donating eyes need to be considered while creating awareness about eye donation in the community. The nursing students can be actively involved as volunteers in eye donation campaigns. They can also contribute by participating in creating awareness and motivating the people for eye donation. Keywords: Awareness; Eye Donation; Nursing Students; Corneal Blindness; Corneal Transplantation. Corneal blindness is one of the important types of blindness that can be prevented by proper health care, education and conventionally cured by corneal transplantation for which awareness regarding eye donation is essential. Objectives: To assess the awareness about eye donation among nursing students. Methods: It was a cross-sectional observational study. Settings: BLDE nursing college, Bijapur, Karnataka, India. A total of 380 students of nursing students of BLDE nursing college, Bijapur, were involved in this study. A semi-structured questionnaire was used to collect the data from the students. Results: Majority (72%) of students were aware that eyes could be donated and 28% were not aware
about eye donation. 28% knew the ideal time for eye donation. 93% were willing to donate eyes and 12% had already pledged their eyes. Perceived reasons for not pledging eyes by the students were: lack of awareness (32%), the unacceptable idea of separating the eyes from the body (54%), objection by family members (68%) and religious beliefs (25%).Conclusion: This study revealed that nursing students were well aware of eye donation and most of them inclined to sign-up for eye donation. The information about awareness and willingness for eye donation could help in developing strategies to increase procurement of corneas for dealing with corneal blindness. The reasons for not donating eyes need to be considered while creating awareness about eye donation in the community. The nursing students can be actively involved as volunteers in eye donation campaigns. They can also contribute by participating in creating awareness and motivating the people for eye donation.
Keywords: Awareness; Eye Donation; Nursing Students; Corneal Blindness; Corneal Transplantation.
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