Organ Donation Week: East Sussex nurse opens up about her work

Joana de Letra is an organ donation specialist nurse for East Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust. She became interested in organ donation when she was working on the intensive care unit (ICU). Joana said: “Supporting donor families and potential organ donors through the process as an ICU nurse really opened my eyes to the value of supportive and individualised end-of-life care, especially when there is a possibility to help the lives of others in that process.”

In the UK there are currently around 7,000 people on the organ donation waiting list, 200 of which are children. In 2021, seven families in East Sussex agreed to organ donation - from this 15 people received a life-saving transplant.