Objetivou-se identificar as causas da não efetividade das doações de órgãos e tecidos para transplantes, em um hospital público do Ceará. Estudo descritivo, documental, retrospectivo, sob abordagem quantitativa, realizado na Comissão Intra- -Hospitalar de Doação de Órgãos e Tecidos para Transplantes de um hospital do Ceará. A amostra foi constituída por 101 protocolos de diagnóstico de morte encefálica, com doação não efetivada. Verificou-se predominância de potenciais doadores do sexo feminino (65 – 64,4%), entre 40 e 49 anos (41 – 41,0%), que estavam no setor emergência, com diagnóstico de morte encefálica, por Acidente Vascular Encefálico hemorrágico (44 – 43,6%). A principal causa da não efetividade das doações foi a negativa familiar (54 – 53,5%), seja pelo desejo de manter corpo íntegro (17 – 16,1%), seja pela premissa de que o potencial não era doador em vida (23 – 23,1%).
The objective of this study was to identify the factors of non-effectiveness of donations of organs and tissues for transplants in a public hospital in Ceará. A descriptive study, a retrospective documentary, with a quantitative approach, carried out at the Intra-Hospital Commission of Organ and Transplant Tissue Donation of the Hospital Geral of Fortaleza. The sample consisted of 151 diagnostic protocols for brain death that were opened at the study hospital from January to December 2016. Data collection was performed between January and February 2017. There were a predominance of potential female donors among 46 and 55 years old, who were in the emergency department, with a diagnosis of encephalic brain death. The main cause of the non-effectiveness of the donations was the negative family, either by the desire to maintain intact body, or by the premise that the potential was not a donor in life. It is concluded that the family has a primordial role in the effectiveness of the donations, thus, it is necessary the adequate reception, taking into account the process of loss and regret.