Nurses’ Attitudes to Euthanasia: a review of the literature

Abstract

This article provides an overview of the scarce international literature concerning nurses' attitudes to euthanasia. Studies show large differences with respect to the percentage of nurses who are (not) in favour of euthanasia. Characteristics such as age, religion and nursing specialty have a significant influence on a nurse's opinion. The arguments for euthanasia have to do with quality of life, respect for autonomy and dissatisfaction with the current situation. Arguments against euthanasia are the right to a good death, belief in the possibilities offered by palliative care, religious objections and the fear of abuse. Nurses mention the need for more palliative care training, their difficulties in taking a specific position, and their desire to express their ideas about euthanasia. There is a need to include nurses' voices in the end-of-life discourse because they offer a contextual understanding of euthanasia and requests to die, which is borne out of real experience with people facing death.

Assessment of nurses’ views about euthanasia according to their departments

“…Yurt dışında yapılan çalışmalarda ötanaziyi destekleme oranı %60 ile %90 arasında değişmektedir [22,23]. Beder ve ark aktif ötanazinin olması gerektiğini düşünenlerin %40,3'ü, yoğun bakımda, %33,3'ü cerrahi servisinde, %26,4'ü dahiliye servisinde ça-lıştığı bildirilmiştir [15].…”

“…yoğun bakımda çalışan hemşirelerin %26,6'sının birden çok kez ötanazi istemiyle karşılaştığını belirtmişlerdir [33]. Yurt dışında yapılan çalışmalarda özellikle onkoloji ve yoğun bakım hastalarında bu taleple karşılaştık-ları belirtilmiştir [34,35] Hastanın yaşamak kadar ölme hakkının da olduğu göz önüne alındığında, özerkliğe saygı çerçe-vesinde etik ve yasal yönüyle tartışılmakta olan öta-nazi, sağlık çalışanları arasında karar vermede bir takım sorunları da beraberinde getirmektedir. Yasal olarak suç sayılan ötanazi, hastanın klinik tanısına ve yaşına göre uygulanabilir görüşleri doğrultusun-da ülkemizde ve dünyada tartışılmaya devam edecektir.…”

Institutional ethics policies on medical end-of-life decisions: A literature review

“…Nevertheless, physicians and nurses report a need for support and guidance for these kinds of clinical-ethical decisionmaking processes [11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19].…”

“…MELDs are extremely difficult to handle, contributing to the emotional burden carried by physicians [11][12][13][14] and nurses [11,[15][16][17][18][19] as well as by patients and relatives [20,21]. Discussions about which decision is best for the patient may also cause conflicts between the healthcare team and patients or relatives [11,[20][21][22][23][24].…”

Euthanasia forEnd Stage Cancer Patients: A Right to Die? A Policy Brief

“…As a part of the medical professions in Jordan nurses need to be incorporated into the authority of making an alternative, such one is palliation service and counselling.Nurses' attitudes toward euthanasia differ from to another according to legal regulations, the professional code of ethics, professional experience, personal value systems, religion, and age (Verpoort et al, 2004). They are the people who spend most of the time with dying patients and their relatives.…”