A study to assess the effectiveness of a structured teaching program on nursing students’ knowledge of euthanasia across different colleges in Navi Mumbai, India

Abstract

Abstract Background: Euthanasia, derived from the Greek term meaning “good death,” involves ending a life to alleviate suffering, particularly in cases of terminal illness or severe pain. Legal views on euthanasia vary globally, with the Netherlands and Belgium leading by legalizing it in 2001 and 2002, respectively. In India, the 2011 Supreme Court ruling in the Aruna Shanbaug case permitted passive euthanasia under specific conditions, sparking ongoing debates about the legalization of euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide. Materials and Methods: This study used a quantitative research design with a pre-experimental one-group pretest and posttest approach. The study was conducted at selected Navi Mumbai colleges, including 108 students selected through nonprobability convenience sampling. A pretest was administered before the structured teaching program, which was then implemented. The students were reassessed 7 days later. Results: Among the 108 B.Sc. nursing students, pretest knowledge scores revealed that 34% had poor knowledge and 57% had average knowledge, indicating a moderate understanding of euthanasia. In contrast, posttest results showed that 59% of students demonstrated good knowledge, and 41% exhibited excellent knowledge. The mean pretest score of 7.19 increased to 14 in the posttest, highlighting that the structured teaching program significantly improved the students’ knowledge of euthanasia. No significant association was found between pre-intervention knowledge scores and selected demographic variables. Conclusion: Effective education can substantially enhance knowledge levels. The structured teaching program successfully improved students’ understanding of euthanasia, as they initially had a limited grasp of the topic.