Objective: To examine the nursing students ’ perception s of organ transplantation in Japan.

Materials and Methods: This is a mixed methods research. Firstly, we conducted the questioner survey on the degree of recognition about organ transplantation of nursing students who had not taken the education concerning organ transplantation. Secondly, we conducted through the group interviews with 19 nursing students for their perceptions of organ transplantation. We analyzed the data quantitatively and qualitatively.

Results: The quantitative data showed that 225 students (95.7%) responded, and the number of valid responses was 209 (88.9%). Those students who had not taken any educational classes related to organ transplantation and nursing students had less understanding on organ transplantation, but they were highly interested in these, and felt the needs for education of organ transplantation. These were not significance by the academic grade year. The qualitative data analysis led to 394 codes, and led to 31 sub categories. Finally, 6 categories such as "The wrong perceptions of recipients and donors of organ transplantation", "The feeling of appreciation for donors giving their organs", "The wish for the lifesaving and popularization of organ transplantation", "The question about the rules of the organ donation", "The imagination about the nurses and coordinators of organ transplantation", "The necessity of the education concerning organ transplantation" were yielded from the sub categories.

Conclusion: There was lack of the nursing students' perceptions of organ transplantation. It is necessary to review the educational contents concerning medical treatment of organ transplantation more actively in the nursing education more actively.