Introduction: Organ and tissue donation coordinators (coordinators) play a critical role in organ donation from approaching families about donation to organizing surgical procedures. However, due to the emotionally challenging and stressful scenarios faced daily, coordinators are commonly affected by work-related issues (e.g., burnout and compassion fatigue). The incidence of work-related issues among coordinators can lead to increased turnover and decreased quality of deceased organ donation processes. Still, little is known about the incidence of work-related issues among coordinators in Canada. Therefore, our aim was to explore the incidence and potential causes of work-related issues among coordinators in Canada to inform the development of future solutions.
Methods: Mixed-methods explanatory sequential design using a cross-sectional survey and qualitative descriptive individual interviews. We invited all (n=175) coordinators working in Canadian Organ Donation organizations to participate in our study. Quantitative data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics (SPSS software) and qualitative data were analyzed using a thematic analysis approach (NVIVO).
Results: 120 coordinators (70% response rate) responded to the survey: 81% were women; 98% were registered nurses and 70% had seriously considered leaving the job at some point in their career. Coordinators presented moderate to high levels of burnout; high levels of moral distress; high compassion satisfaction and secondary traumatic stress; and low resilience levels. Qualitative data mostly supported the quantitative results, but surprisingly, coordinators felt that burnout is part of the role, and contradicting the quantitative findings, that they are very resilient. In addition, coordinators reported as sources of stress the need for structured training and increased organizational support. 
Conclusion: This is the first study on a large scale that measured work-related issues among coordinators. Canadian coordinators are highly impacted by the stressors and emotional aspects of their job. The results of this work are informing the development of interventions and supportive measures by our research team to help improve the work-related well-being of those professionals, which will consequently reduce turnover rates and increase the quality of deceased organ donation.