Analysis of the brain death protocol applied in a hospital in the são francisco valley region in Brazil: Methodological approach developed by nurses

Brain Death (BD) is the total and irreversible stoppage of brain functions proven by clinical and complementary exams to verify the absence of flow, electrical and metabolic activity of the brain. The objective was to analyze the protocol for the diagnosis of Brain Death in a University Hospital in the city of Petrolina-PE. This is a descriptive, documentary, exploratory, retrospective, quantitative study, from January 2014 to July 2015. 115 medical records were analyzed, the average time for closing the protocol was 17:00 and 9:00 for the complementary examination, 227 were not presented hypothermia and 225 did not use depressant drugs before neurological evaluations, 54 underwent Transcranial Doppler (TCD), 44 Electroencephalogram (EEG) and 17 DTC and EEG as a complementary exam, 117 were evaluated by neurosurgeons, 98 clinicians and 15 intensive care physicians. Knowing and properly applying the BD diagnosis protocol is very important from the opening process to the possible organ donation, since these patients have a greater potential. But errors are still detected in the BD diagnostic processes, delay in completing the protocol, inadequate infrastructure and professionals involved in the process who are unaware of the criteria to establish BD.