RT Journal Article SR Electronic T1 Patient-centred and family-centred care of critically ill patients who are potential organ donors: a qualitative study protocol of family member perspectives JF BMJ Open JO BMJ Open FD British Medical Journal Publishing Group SP e037527 DO 10.1136/bmjopen-2020-037527 VO 10 IS 6 A1 Katina Zheng A1 Stephanie Sutherland A1 Pierre Cardinal A1 Maureen Meade A1 Angele Landriault A1 Brandi Vanderspank-Wright A1 Sabira Valiani A1 Sam Shemie A1 Amber Appleby A1 Sean Keenan A1 Matthew Weiss A1 Kim Werestiuk A1 Andreas H Kramer A1 Joann Kawchuk A1 Stephen Beed A1 Sonny Dhanani A1 Giuseppe Pagliarello A1 Michaël Chasse A1 Ken Lotherington A1 Mary Gatien A1 Kim Parsons A1 Jennifer Chandler A1 Peter Nickerson A1 Jim Kutsogiannis A1 Aimee J Sarti YR 2020 UL http://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/10/6/e037527.abstract AB Introduction In a patient-centred and family-centred approach to organ donation, compassion is paramount. Recent guidelines have called for more research, interventions and approaches aimed at improving and supporting the families of critically ill patients. The objective of this study is to help translate patient-centred and family-centred care into practice in deceased organ donation.Methods and analysis This will be a national, qualitative study of family members of deceased organ donors in Canada. We will include family members who had been approached regarding an organ donation decision, including those who agreed and declined, at least 2 months and no later than 3 years after the patients’ death. Data collection and analysis is ongoing and will continue until September 2020 to include approximately 250 participants. Family members will be identified and recruited from provincial organ donation organisation databases. Four experienced qualitative researchers will conduct telephone interviews in English or French with audio-recording for subsequent transcription. The research team will develop a codebook iteratively through this process using inductive methods, thus generating themes directly from the dataset.Ethics and dissemination Local research ethics boards (REB) at all participating sites across Canada have approved this protocol. The main REB involved is the Ottawa Health Science Network REB. Data collection began in August 2018. Publication of results is anticipated in 2021. Study findings will help improve healthcare provider competency in caring for potential organ donors and their families and improve organ donation consent rates. Findings will also help with the development of educational materials for a competency-based curriculum for critical care residents.