Attitudes of nurses towards euthanasia and towards their role in euthanasia: A nationwide study in Flanders, Belgium

International Journal of Nursing Studies

Volumn 46, Issue 9, 2009, Pages 1209-1218

  Inghelbrecht, Els ^a   Bilsen, Johan ^a   Mortier, Freddy ^b   Deliens, Luc ^a,c  

^a VRIJE UNIVERSITEIT BRUSSEL   (Belgium)

^b GHENT UNIVERSITY   (Belgium)

^c VU UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER   (Netherlands)

Author keywords

Attitude; End of life; Euthanasia; Medical decision making; Nurse's role; Nurses

Indexed keywords

ACTIVE EUTHANASIA; ADULT; ARTICLE; BELGIUM; FEMALE; HEALTH PERSONNEL ATTITUDE; HUMAN; MALE; MIDDLE AGED; NURSE; PSYCHOLOGICAL ASPECT; QUESTIONNAIRE; TERMINAL CARE;

ADULT; ATTITUDE OF HEALTH PERSONNEL; BELGIUM; EUTHANASIA, ACTIVE; FEMALE; HUMANS; MALE; MIDDLE AGED; NURSES; QUESTIONNAIRES; TERMINAL CARE;

EID: 67650721104     PISSN: 00207489     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1016/j.ijnurstu.2009.02.009     Document Type: Article

References (39)

1. Asch D.A. The role of critical care nurses in euthanasia and assisted suicide. New England Journal of Medicine 334 21 (1996) 1374-1379
2. Asch D.A., and DeKay M.L. Euthanasia among US critical care nurses. Practices, attitudes, and social and professional correlates. Medical Care 35 9 (1997) 890-900
3. Asch D.A., Jedrziewski M.K., and Christakis N.A. Response rates to mail surveys published in medical journals. Journal of Clinical Epidemiology 50 10 (1997) 1129-1136
4. Berghs M., Dierckx de Casterlé B., and Gastmans C. The complexity of nurses' attitudes toward euthanasia: a review of the literature. Journal of Medical Ethics 31 8 (2005) 441-446
5. Bilsen J.J., Vander Stichele R.H., Mortier F., and Deliens L. Involvement of nurses in physician-assisted dying. Journal of Advanced Nursing 47 6 (2004) 583-591
6. Bosshard G., Broeckaert B., Clark D., Materstvedt L.J., Gordijn B., and Muller-Busch H.C. A role for doctors in assisted dying? An analysis of legal regulations and medical professional positions in six European countries. Journal of Medical Ethics 34 1 (2008) 28-32
7. Broeckaert B. Belgium: towards a legal recognition of euthanasia. European Journal of Health Law 8 (2001) 95-107
8. Collins D. Pretesting survey instruments: an overview of cognitive methods. Quality of Life Research 12 3 (2003) 229-238
9. De Bal N., Gastmans C., and Dierckx de Casterlé B. Nurses' involvement in the care of patients requesting euthanasia: a review of the literature. International Journal of Nursing Studies 45 4 (2008) 626-644
10. De Beer T., Gastmans C., and Dierckx de Casterlé B. Involvement of nurses in euthanasia: a review of the literature. Journal of Medical Ethics 30 5 (2004) 494-498
11. Deliens L., and van der Wal G. The euthanasia law in Belgium and the Netherlands. Lancet 362 9391 (2003) 1239-1240
12. Dillmann D.A. The design and administration of mail surveys. Annual Review of Sociology 17 (1991) 225-249
13. Ferrell B., Virani R., Grant M., Coyne P., and Uman G. Beyond the Supreme Court decision: nursing perspectives on end-of-life care. Oncology Nursing Forum 27 3 (2000) 445-455
14. Gastmans C., Lemiengre J., and Dierckx de Casterlé B. Role of nurses in institutional ethics policies on euthanasia. Journal of Advanced Nursing 54 1 (2006) 53-61
15. Inghelbrecht E., Bilsen J., Mortier F., and Deliens L. Factors related to the involvement of nurses in medical end-of-life decisions in Belgium: a death certificate study. International Journal of Nursing Studies 45 7 (2008) 1022-1031
16. Kitchener B.A. Nurses' attitudes to active voluntary euthanasia: a survey in the ACT. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health 22 2 (1998) 276-278
17. Kitchener B.A. Nurse characteristics and attitudes to active voluntary euthanasia: a survey in the Australian Capital Territory. Journal of Advanced Nursing 28 1 (1998) 70-76
18. Kuhse H., and Singer P. Voluntary euthanasia and the nurse: an Australian survey. International Journal of Nursing Studies 30 4 (1993) 311-322
19. Kuhse H., Singer P., Baume P., Clark M., and Rickard M. End-of-life decisions in Australian medical practice. The Medical Journal of Australia 166 4 (1997) 191-196
20. Matzo M.L., and Schwarz J.K. In their own words: oncology nurses respond to patient requests for assisted suicide and euthanasia. Applied Nursing Research 14 2 (2001) 64-71
21. Meier D.E., Emmons C.A., Wallenstein S., Quill T., Morrison R.S., and Cassel C.K. A national survey of physician-assisted suicide and euthanasia in the United States. The New England Journal of Medicine 338 17 (1998) 1193-1201
22. Miccinesi G., Fischer S., Paci E., Onwuteaka-Philipsen B.D., Cartwright C., van der Heide A., Nilstun T., Norup M., and Mortier F. Physicians' attitudes towards end-of-life decisions: a comparison between seven countries. Social Sciences and Medicine 60 9 (2005) 1961-1974
23. Ministry of Justice, 2002. Wet betreffende de euthanasie (The Belgian Act on Euthanasia). Belgian Law Gazette of June 22, 2002. Available at http://www.ejustice.just.fgov.be.
24. Morita T., Miyashita M., Kimura R., Adachi I., and Shima Y. Emotional burden of nurses in palliative sedation therapy. Palliative Medicine 18 6 (2004) 550-557
25. Rietjens J.A., Hauser J., van der Heide A., and Emanuel L. Having a difficult time leaving: experiences and attitudes of nurses with palliative sedation. Palliative Medicine 21 7 (2007) 643-649
26. Rietjens J., van Delden J., Onwuteaka-Philipsen B., Buiting H., van der Maas P., and van der Heide A. Continuous deep sedation for patients nearing death in the Netherlands: descriptive study. British Medical Journal 336 7648 (2008) 810-813
27. Rurup M.L., Onwuteaka-Philipsen B.D., Pasman H.R.W., Ribbe M.W., and van der Wal G. Attitudes of physicians, nurses and relatives towards end-of-life decisions concerning nursing home patients with dementia. Patient Education and Counseling 61 3 (2006) 372-380
28. Ryynanen O.P., Myllykangas M., Viren M., and Heino H. Attitudes towards euthanasia among physicians, nurses and the general public in Finland. Public Health 116 6 (2002) 322-331
29. Seale C. National survey of end-of-life decisions made by UK medical practitioners. Palliative Medicine 20 1 (2006) 3-10
30. Seale C. Characteristics of end-of-life decisions: survey of UK medical practitioners. Palliative Medicine 20 7 (2006) 653-659
31. Seymour J.E., Janssens R., and Broeckaert B. Relieving suffering at the end of life: practitioners' perspectives on palliative sedation from three European countries. Social Science & Medicine 64 8 (2007) 1679-1691
32. Tanida N., Asai A., Ohnishi M., Nagata S., Fukui T., Yamazaki Y., and Kuhse H. Voluntary active euthanasia and the nurse: a comparison of Japanese and Australian nurses. Nursing Ethics 9 3 (2002) 313-322
33. van Bruchem-van de Scheur G.G., van der Arend A.J., Abu-Saad H.H., Spreeuwenberg C., van Wijmen F.C., and ter Meulen R.H. The role of nurses in euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide in The Netherlands. Journal of Medical Ethics 34 4 (2008) 254-258
34. van der Heide A., Onwuteaka-Philipsen B.D., Rurup M.L., Buiting H.M., van Delden J.J., Hanssen-de Wolf J.E., Janssen A.G., Pasman H.R., Rietjens J.A., Prins C.J., Deerenberg I.M., Gevers J.K., van der Maas P.J., and van der Wal G. End-of-life practices in the Netherlands under the Euthanasia Act. New England Journal of Medicine 356 19 (2007) 1957-1965
35. van der Heide A., Deliens L., Faisst K., Nilstun T., Norup M., Paci E., van der Wal G., and van der Maas P.J. End-of-life decision-making in six European countries: descriptive study. Lancet 362 9381 (2003) 345-350
36. Verpoort C., Gastmans C., De Bal N., and Dierckx de Casterlé B. Nurses' attitudes to euthanasia: a review of the literature. Nursing Ethics 11 4 (2004) 349-365
37. Verpoort C., Gastmans C., and Dierckx de Casterlé B. Palliative care nurses' views on euthanasia. Journal of Advanced Nursing 47 6 (2004) 592-600
38. Willems D.L., Daniels E.R., van der Wal G., van der Maas P.J., and Emanuel E.J. Attitudes and practices concerning the end of life: a comparison between physicians from the United States and from the Netherlands. Archives of Internal Medicine 160 1 (2000) 63-68
39. Young M.G., and Ogden R.D. The role of nurses in AIDS care regarding voluntary euthanasia and assisted suicide: a call for further dialogue. Journal of Advanced Nursing 31 3 (2000) 513-519