Phase V .Apa Seven

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To Explore the Nurses’ Roles in Discouraging Palliative Patients from Euthanasia

Jose Cardentey Hernandez

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Phase 4 - To Explore the Nurses’ Roles in Discouraging Palliative Patients from Euthanasia

The hypothetical results of the research project are as follows

Demographics Characteristics

The researcher expects the response rate to be more than 50%, which means there will be

more than 30, and the maximum number of participants will be 60. A response rate of 60% is

expected because possible issues might affect the perfect response rate. For example, the

researcher might face logistics issues at the hospitals, the busy schedule of nurses, and it might be

possible that some nurses will be unwilling to be part of the research. Sometimes, there is an

excessive workload on the nurses due to which they cannot give to any other activity like the

interview.

As far as the demographics are concerned, the researcher expects 80 percent of participants

to be female and the rest to be male. The expectations of females to be greater than the male is

because of their association with the profession. The female is more associated with nursing, and

males are less as compared to them. The demographics are expected not to affect the research

outcomes because the female nurses know more about euthanasia use. The researcher expects to

find the nurses who have a duty in the departments where euthanasia is excessively used. The

ethical practices require the obtain the consent from the nurses before including them in research.

If the participants are agreed to be the part of research, the timings and their feasibility should be

asked following the professional ethics (Priyadarshini, 2021).

Euthanasia use is one of the controversial topics, and it has been seen that the nurses have

different beliefs about them. Euthanasia use is excessive in some departments like the labor rooms

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and the surgical units. So, the researcher expects to find nurses that have experience in this regard.

The hypothetical results of demographics are as follows.

Figure 1

Attitudes of Nurses towards euthanasia

The researchers expect that the nurses have different attitudes and behaviors towards

Euthanasia use. Some nurses have a positive perception of it, and others do not have any positive

view regarding the concern. It is expected that most nurses will not consider it ethical to use

euthanasia for the patients. Most of the time, it facilitates the patient's death in the crucial stage of

life.

The researcher expects that the nurses will have different opinions as some of them will

view that they can help the patient in a harm reduction approach but cannot facilitate the dying

process. Death is an undeniable process, but there is a condition when the patients become helpless

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and are agreed to physician-assisted death. The nurses still have reservations about the use of

euthanasia (Casterle, 2016).

On the other hand, some nurses think that palliative care is complicated because older

adults are usually involved in it. The patients have complex issues, and sometimes they suffer from

multiple issues simultaneously, which is not easy for the nurses to manage. It is not easy for the

family members to see the patient in pain. So, if the patient and family agree on physician-assisted

death, the process should be done. The nurses have the duty to cooperate with the patients and

their families but the decision for the physician assisted death. Both the families and the nurses

have to keep the condition, pain and stability of patient. Moreover, there are several ethical

standards involved that are to be considered. (Pakkanen, 2014).

The researcher expects that the interview will be a useful tool to know the opinions of

nurses and the reasons behind them. The expected results are the negative opinions of nurses

regarding euthanasia use because the healthcare departments and the relevant staff have to save the

patient's life. Life is a blessing, and it is not appropriate to kill the patient, but he should be given

the appropriate treatment and efforts for the patient's recovery. The researcher expects that 60

percent of nurses will have negative opinions about euthanasia use.

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Figure 2

The influence of family on the nurses

Palliative care is an important concern, and it has been noted that the patient's families are

extremely worried about their patients. It is the stage where the patients suffer from multiple

disorders and are almost at the end-stage. It has been seen that the families have to make certain

decisions for the patients. The researcher expects that the nurses will have a strong influence

because of the patient's families. It is difficult for the families to ask for physician-assisted death,

but there are situations when the families decide on the intentional death.

The researcher expects that most nurses will try to overcome the influence of families, and

they will try to convince the families that they should not make the decisions for physician-assisted

death or euthanasia use. However, it is seen that the families are independent in making the

decisions, and the nurses cannot influence them with their opinions. The nurses must create

awareness among the families, but they cannot force them (Berghs et al., 2019).

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The researcher expects that most nurses will not use euthanasia and will overcome the

influence of families. Hospital administration must make the rules and regulations that euthanasia

can be used in certain situations when necessary. If the families try to influence the nurses, they

have the evidence to show in their support. The nurses and other healthcare departmental staff need

to guide in the best possible way because euthanasia is already difficult. The families are

sometimes emotional, and they do not want to see the patient in pain. The hypothetical results of

the influence of family are shown as follows.

Figure 3

Alternative approaches adopted by nurses

Euthanasia of physician-assisted death is not the ultimate solution, but the nurses view that

there should be alternative ways to provide relief. The goal of nursing is not to assist in death but is

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to promote health and demonstrate a positive image in the community. Different factors urge the

nurses to adopt alternative approaches compared to euthanasia.

Certain ethical and religious controversies do not support euthanasia use. For example, no

religion teaches human beings to commit suicide or instruct doctors or nurses to assist in

intentional deaths. The religions are always of the view that patients' health should be promoted

and they should be given a chance to live till death naturally comes.

Similarly, ethical issues teach the nurses to take alternative approaches and not assist the

patients in death. Death is a natural process, and nature should be responsible for it. In the light of

these circumstances, it is expected that most of the nurses will attempt to adopt alternative

approaches (Asai et al., 2019).

The alternative approaches include long-term medication and care to the patients because

healthy relief is the main goal. The patients need a good diet and nutrition because they have

compromised immune systems and need to improve their diet. The researchers expect that most of

the participants will think about improving patients' health through alternative approaches.

Table 1

Good Diet 20%

Long term Care 40%

Family Care 40%

Limitations and implications of the study

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There are different limitations in the study that the researcher needs to consider. It is seen

that the sample size is limited, due to which the results are likely to be affected. The limited sample

size means that the researcher has to ask the questions and conduct the interviews with only 60

participants. Euthanasia is a global issue, so the general decision cannot be made based on the

interviews and opinions of such a small population. Future research should have a large sample

size to obtain the general outcomes, and general decisions can be made.

The researcher could not meet the nurses physically because of the pandemic. The hospital

administration has restricted the individuals visiting the hospital except for the emergency cases.

So, the telephonic interviews were conducted, and there is a chance of technology distortion and

time issues. Moreover, it is seen that some of the nurses may not agree to give the interviews, so

the response rate is affected.

The research can be implicated in different aspects. The research will be useful to create

awareness among nurses and patients. Euthanasia use will be given more importance because the

hospitals may introduce certain regulations in which euthanasia can be used. It is seen that the

ethical and religious issues will be considered to use euthanasia appropriately.

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References

Asai, A., Ohnishi, M., Nagata, S. K., Tanida, N., & Yamazaki, Y. (2019). Doctors' and nurses'

attitudes towards and experiences voluntary euthanasia: a survey of the Japanese

Association of Palliative Medicine members. Journal of medical ethics, 27(5), 324-330.

Berghs, M., De Casterle, B. D., & Gastmans, C. (2019). The complexity of nurses’ attitudes toward

euthanasia: a review of the literature. Journal of Medical Ethics, 31(8), 441-446.

Dierckx de Casterle, B. (2016). Nurses' views on their involvement in euthanasia: a qualitative

study in Flanders (Belgium). Journal Of Medical Ethics, 32(4), 187-192.

https://doi.org/10.1136/jme.2005.011783

Pakkanen, P., Häggman-Laitila, A., & Kangasniemi, M. (2021). Ethical issues identified in nurses´

interprofessional collaboration in clinical practice: a meta-synthesis. Journal of

Interprofessional Care, 1-10. https://doi.org/10.1080/13561820.2021.1892612.

Priyadarshini, P. (2021). Ethics In Nursing Research. European Journal of Molecular & Clinical

Medicine, 7(07), 2020. https://ejmcm.com/article_6005.html.