An innovative online program developed by former Southeast Missouri State University nursing professor, Dr. Linda Heitman, has reached more than 5,000 nursing students nationwide and is continuing to expand. The program educates nurses about Oregon and tissue donation, and Linda is here now to tell us all about it.
Woods: So this all goes back. To the beginning, I guess. There was a call for grants by Mid America Transplant, and that's how this all started. So take us from there.
Heitman: Yes. 2017, Mid America Transplant put a call out to all universities in their service region for ideas, for projects with them. And so, in 2017, I wrote and responded to that, wrote a grant, to create an online program for undergraduate nursing students.
I taught long enough to know that, I taught critical care, so I was aware of the fact that there was nothing in the major textbooks that we were using. In the top five textbooks that I had looked at as I [began] to explore this.
Nothing was in there about organ and tissue donations. So, it was just not being taught. Universally. Individual programs might have something, but nothing really substantial and certainly nothing affiliated with an organ procurement organization.
And so, the grant was accepted, and we worked, I worked with a team from Mid America Transplant in St. Louis, and we worked for two years to create this. It was a two year project. And then launched it in 2019.
So since 2019, in December, [2025] had reached 5,000 and just tabulated the numbers the other day, were close to 6,000 now. The nursing students that had been taught.
So we're very, very pleased with that result, and hope that it will be impactful. And we think it is for organ donation.
Woods: Well, and I asked you, I was surprised when you said it wasn't really taught, but it wasn't, for whatever reason, I guess, but this all nurses, this kind of all starts with nurses, doesn't it?
Heitman: It does. Nurses are at the bedside and identifying donors. The first line to do that, as a rule. And so, it's imperative that they have accurate information. It's really a specialty. There's so many things a nursing curriculum has to cover.
And this is.. Seems like a sort of a minute piece, but it's an important end of life decision. There are many end of life decisions. As a staff nurse in the ICU, I became familiar with those, like nurses do. And this is just one of many.
But it's really important to get the information out, to educate nurses who then can, in turn, educate their families and people they know. So that you're not making that decision in a time of stress or duress at a hospital. Hopefully, this has been a discussion families have had or, you know, as a unit. And those things are decided before you have to make the decision.
Woods: Let's talk a little about the platform, and there are four modules in it.
Lets talk through those.
Heitman: Yeah, we have the introduction of the platform. There are four, and then there's obviously one for the process of donation. They have a virtual tour of Mid America Transplant in St. Louis...the offices, where the old arena used to be in St. Louis and located there. And so it's a facility, a freestanding facility.
Mid America Transplant was the first organ procurement organization in the nation to have a freestanding recovery center.
In the early days, in the '80s, here in Cape Girardeau and everywhere else, you've seen movies and places where doctors would fly into a hospital and retrieve the organs, and they carry out little styrofoam coolers and get on the plane and go back.
Mid America recognized the need to have a free standing facility for many reasons.
One, uh, time. Time is of the essence when you're doing these procedures, and also proximity to medical centers. So they were close to four hospitals that did transplantation, St. Louis University, Barnes Jewish, Cardinal Glennon, and Children's.
So the platform also deals with, then, the nurses role, another module was a nurse's role, the nurse enrolled in, it outlines what the nurse has to do.
The final one is really about family support and bereavement. And what Mid America Transplant does to support donor families, not just at the time of the donation. But beyond.
And one of those things that they do is the establishment of the family house, in St. Louis, which is in the Dogtown region, of St. Louis, and this is a facility that is, uh, made available to families, awaiting transplantation to be near these teaching hospitals or for patients who have received transplantation.
And really, you're not ready to go back home to wherever they may live, because it's, I think, 170 counties that Mid America serves. So it's from St. Louis all the way to Jonesboro, Arkansas, and we cover all of that area in all St. Louis, and then Kansas City has their own OPO as well. But Mid America Transplant covers a very large region.
Woods: And in the program, the modules are at universities, I guess.
Heitman: They're in schools of nursing at universities, yes. And we have 12 universities. All the major ones with the schools of nursing that have baccalaureate nursing programs. And it's our belief that that's an important place to start, because they'll be the nurses who'll be in the hospitals identifying these donors.
Woods: What has the reception been from the universities, and the programs, and the nurses who are taking going through it?
Heitman: It's been very positive, and I think one of the things, one of the elements of the modules, is a form that we have for the students, to pose questions to them, and let them respond in a narrative format. To those questions.
One of the questions is, have you ever had an experience with a personal experience with donation?
And probably the most startling thing to me was that we have averaged those responses being at 50%. Their grandfather, their grandmother, the grandparents, their parents, someone at school, someone at church, someone down the street, in the community.
They had some connection, and obviously, particularly if you get into Southeast Missouri, and farther, there's a lot of smaller towns and communities where people really know each other, you know?
And so, it's something that I just didn't expect that high a number, that they would be, and then they would share some of those stories, and the impact that it had on them, and they've been, those narratives have been extremely profound for those of us who have read them and looked at them, and we've been very moved by that. So we know we're doing something we feel is really, as they call it, the gift of life. And so it makes it available to people in this region.
Woods: How do you shop the modules around? Does Mid America offer this to universities? How does it leave and continue to spread?
Heitman: It is free to any school of nursing in the mid America transplant service region. So, it's, I mean, we have contacted them, and we have been doing that since obviously 2019. So, and it's free of charge. There's no charge for this. So it's something that is really self regulating in terms of teaching it, because, obviously, it's online, and we oversee it. And make sure that it runs smoothly.
Woods: Are they surprised when you tell them it's free?
Heitman: Very.
Woods: People don't hear that very often. Anymore, do they?
Heitman: You don't get online platforms for education free very often, so, but that is how strongly Mid America Transplant believes the message has to go out, that education is the key. To getting this word out.
Woods: This is Focus on Southeast. I'm Dan Woods. We are continuing our conversation with Dr. Linda Heitman about organ and tissue donation. Mid America transplant, and the university have really teamed up and partnered to do this, talk about how the university and Mid America are getting this done. It's really an amazing collaboration.
Heitman: The university's IT department serves as the hub of this whole project. Dr. Floyd Lockhart is my right and left hand in this, and he oversees all of the IT connections with all of these universities. It's a pretty remarkable thing that the IT department does in the role that Southeast plays, because without that, it wouldn't exist.
It's online. So having the highest quality of management of this is extremely important, because these schools depend on that in a timely fashion. Time accuracy, availability, you know, all of those things are crucial to make it work.
It would not happen without that. So it's an incredible role that the university plays in servicing all the people of the region. They're providing this message to go out, this end of life decision, to go out throughout the entire southeast region, and southeast region and beyond. So it's a vital role when they are essential to the success of it.
Woods: A real service to the region.
Heitman: Very much so. Very much so.
Woods: The organ donor memorial, there's one at the River Campus. Let's talk about that a little bit, and we'll have a picture we'll put up while we're talking. Talk about how that came to me.
Heitman: We are one of two. The original sculpture, piece of sculpture, is done.
The donor memorial is outside, it's in the donor plaza, outside of Mid America Transplant in St. Louis. And it's obviously quite large. And it's pretty large. And then, um, then Mid America wanted to provide a place in the different communities, where we, that they service, that there would be a place for donor families to go and honor their loved ones.
The first one was done at Jonesboro, Arkansas, at St. Bernard's Hospital there, and that was, I was privileged to be at that dedication. The second one was here on the River Campus. It's a beautiful spot. It was dedicated last year. The sculptor is Don Wiegand from St. Louis. His studio is there. Anyone from St. Louis, and many places, would know of his work if they've been to Busch Stadium. Uh, Mr. Busch's sculpture, and others, uh, have been done by Mr. Wiegand. And also, he does work for NASA for the Vatican on and on.
So, he's a master sculptor, and it's a beautiful piece of work, and I would encourage anybody just to go by, and if you walk on the trail behind the River Campus and the sidewalk, you can see it, it's particularly stunning at night. So it's a beautiful location for this, and it offers the people of Southeast Missouri a place to go to remember their loved ones, and to honor them, not just for the families, but for all of us.
Woods: There's a special story that we want to share. I went to school in Neelyville, Missouri, Neelyville High School. Go Tigers. But there's a story that, a real precious story, Mr. Allen, who used to teach, talk about that, because this will be a story that's going to really relate to a lot of people in the region.
Well, you know, for a long time, people felt like, age limited, who could be an organ donor. And, uh, that has dramatically changed through the years, and we, uh, Cape Girardeau had, at St. Francis Medical Center...the oldest donor in the nation. We had the oldest donor in the nation from Cape Girardeau. And he was 98 years old, and I know you have connections with him, so I want you to be able to speak of him. But he donated his liver to a 72 year old lady who did very, very well, which is a remarkable thing.
Woods: Mr. Allen taught VoAg at Neelyville High School for 40 years.
His wife was my fourth grade teacher. Who used to really grill us on our multiplication tables. They were sweet, sweet people, and this was just such a sweet story. He had a whole life of service. He was in the military for many years. He talked for 40 years, and then he made this donation, just help this lady continue to live, a gift of life.
Heitman: Yes, and at 98 years of age. So that's a remarkable thing, and I was speaking to Kevin Lee, who's the CEO of Mid America Transplant, a while ago, who said he was investigating that they think it's possible that Mr. Allen could be the oldest donor in the world. So that's quite a...quite an accolade there. So it's remarkable, and it's even more remarkable that you knew him.
Woods: Yeah, he was 98 years old when he made that donation. You talked earlier about how most all of us know somebody who's been impacted by a donation.
And when we talked on the phone last week, I didn't think about that until you said it, and then I realized, I know someone in Neelyville who, my sister's father in law, had a heart transplant years ago. And I didn't think about it until you said that, but, you know, so we all probably have a story or a connection to this story.
Heitman: Yes, and when you realize that, today, 100,000 people are waiting for organs, and the gift of life, such as Mr. Allen, did so generously. Can save eight people. And that's just for the vital organs, and tissues can save even more than that up to 75.
So, it's a remarkable, it's a remarkable gift, but it's imperative, very important, that people make this decision, make it known that you're not just on your driver's license, but to be registered on the organ donor registry. You can look it up online and have access to it that way. And to make sure your physician, your family, even your clergy, your pastor, priest, whoever you may have, is aware of what you want to do. And everyone's in agreement that to honor your wishes.
Woods: And you said it's important to have these conversations and have a plan long before someone's in the hospital bed, and you're trying to decide, what do we do? I think they mentioned they wanted to donate organs. Somebody says, well, no, they didn't. That needs to be done well in advance.
Heitman: Yes, the discussion needs to take place, and having a form of an advanced directive
A lot of people feel like living wills are what they want to have, but in the State of Missouri, a living will is only active if the patient's terminal, and it's only for the State of Missouri. If you go to another state, that the living will for Missouri is no longer viable.
So, the best option is a power of attorney for healthcare, where you name two proxies that will help honor your wishes, and that document has to be notarized. And it is nationwide.
Woods: So that's the best way to go.
Heitman: Best way to go. And it can be done. You can download one of the forms off of the American Bar Association website. Many places make them available to you. The public library, different places.
I'm not sure you all the places you can get, but they're accessible, does not have to be a costly thing to do. And then, of course, those copies of those should go to your family, people that make your decisions.
Woods: One of the reasons we decided to do this, and we wanted to talk, was, you wanted to get this in people's minds, so maybe this is something, they can have a little education about it, and feel like, you know, maybe they can have a conversation. Right? How important is that?
Heitman: Absolutely. So they can, if they, if it is a decision they wish to make, It's another end of life decision.
It's their choice, you know, and theirs to make. And anyone that shares this message, everyone working on this broadcast, I always say this to my students, and I say it to everyone else that helps in any way to get this message out.
If you are helping, share the word. You stand at the bedside of every transplant recipient, and you're part of this gift. So it's a very important thing to do, and it's also very helpful and generous thing to do.
Woods: Dr. Linda Heitman it was so good to visit with you. Thanks for being here with us.
Heitman: Okay, my pleasure.
