1. Finnish nurses' attitudes towards their role in the euthanasia process.
- Author
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Terkamo-Moisio, Anja, Gastmans, Chris, Ryynänen, Olli-Pekka, and Pietilä, Anna-Maija
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AGE distribution , *CHI-squared test , *STATISTICAL correlation , *EUTHANASIA , *JOB descriptions , *NURSES , *NURSES' attitudes , *PSYCHOLOGY of nurses , *NURSING ethics , *QUESTIONNAIRES , *RELIGION , *RESEARCH funding , *SURVEYS , *WORK environment , *DECISION making in clinical medicine , *OCCUPATIONAL roles , *EDUCATIONAL attainment , *CROSS-sectional method , *DATA analysis software , *WORK experience (Employment) , *DESCRIPTIVE statistics - Abstract
Background: Nurses' voices remain unheard in most debates about euthanasia, although their crucial role in the euthanasia process is widely acknowledged. Moreover, in Canadian euthanasia law, nurses have a more active role, which further highlights the need for knowledge about nurses' attitudes towards their role in the euthanasia process. Research questions: What are Finnish nurses' attitudes towards their potential role in the euthanasia process? Which characteristics are associated with those attitudes? Research design: Cross-sectional web-based survey. Participants and research context: 1003 nurses, recruited via social media and the members' bulletin of the Finnish Nurses Association. Ethical considerations: Ethical approval was obtained from the Committee on Research Ethics of the university to which the first author was affiliated. Findings: The great majority (85.2%) of nurses felt that their perspective should be considered in decision-making related to euthanasia. Furthermore, most of the participants (74.7%) reported willingness to participate in the euthanasia process if it were legal, and 88.6% agreed that a nurse should be present when euthanasia is performed if the patient wishes so. Furthermore, over half agreed that some of the preparatory tasks were part of their job description. However, a minority (32.9%) agreed with a possible obligation to participate based on their profession. Nurses' age, religiosity and educational level influenced their attitudes in the current results. Discussion: Despite the strong agreement on decision-making concerning euthanasia and participation in the euthanasia process, obligation to participate based on the profession was rejected by most participants. Nurses regarded themselves as consultants in the decision-making process, which may indicate their unwillingness to share the responsibility for the decision itself. Conclusion: Specific safety mechanisms should be considered to protect nurses who refuse to be involved in the euthanasia process due to harm that involuntary participation might cause. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2019
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