Nurses' attitudes towards euthanasia in conflict with professional ethical guidelines.

Abstract

Despite the significant role of nurses in end-of-life care, their attitudes towards euthanasia are under-represented both in the current literature and the controversial debate that is ongoing in several countries. What are the attitudes towards euthanasia among Finnish nurses? Which characteristics are associated with those attitudes? Cross-sectional web-based survey. Participants and research context: A total of 1003 nurses recruited via the members' bulletin of the Finnish Nurses Association and social media. Ethical considerations: Ethical approval was obtained from the Committee on Research Ethics of the university to which the authors were affiliated. The majority (74.3%) of the participants would accept euthanasia as part of Finnish healthcare, and 61.8% considered that Finland would benefit from a law permitting euthanasia. Most of the nurses (89.9%) thought that a person must have the right to decide on his or her own death; 77.4% of them considered it likely that they would themselves make a request for euthanasia in certain situations. The value of self-determination and the ability to choose the moment and manner of one's death are emphasized in the nurses' attitudes towards euthanasia. A continuous dialogue about euthanasia and nurses' shared values is crucial due to the conflict between nurses' attitudes and current ethical guidelines on nursing.