Psychosocial determinants of nurses’ intention to practise euthanasia in palliative care
Background:Most studies on euthanasia fail to explain the intentions of health professionals when faced with performing euthanasia and are atheoretical.Research objective:The purpose of this study was to identify the psychosocial determinants of nurses’ intention to practise euthanasia in palliative...
| Authors: | ; ; ; ; ; |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Sage
2016
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| In: |
Nursing ethics
Year: 2016, Volume: 23, Issue: 1, Pages: 48-60 |
| Further subjects: | B
Determinant
B Palliative Care B Intention B Nurse B Euthanasia |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | Background:Most studies on euthanasia fail to explain the intentions of health professionals when faced with performing euthanasia and are atheoretical.Research objective:The purpose of this study was to identify the psychosocial determinants of nurses’ intention to practise euthanasia in palliative care if it were legalised.Research design:A cross-sectional study using a validated anonymous questionnaire based on an extended version of the Theory of Planned Behaviour.Participants and research context:A random sample of 445 nurses from the province of Quebec, Canada, was selected for participation in the study.Ethical considerations:The study was reviewed and approved by the Ethics Committee of the Centre hospitalier universitaire de Québec.Findings:The response rate was 44.2% and the mean score for intention was 4.61 ± 1.90 (range: 1–7). The determinants of intention were the subjective (odds ratio = 3.08; 95% confidence interval: 1.50–6.35) and moral (odds ratio = 2.95; 95% confidence interval: 1.58–5.49) norms. Specific beliefs which could discriminate nurses according to their level of intention were identified.Discussion:Overall, nurses have a slightly positive intention to practise euthanasia. Their family approval seems particularly important and also the approval of their medical colleagues. Nurses’ moral norm was related to beneficence, an ethical principle.Conclusion:To our knowledge, this is the first study to identify nurses’ motivations to practise euthanasia in palliative care using a validated psychosocial theory. It also has the distinction of identifying the ethical principles underlying nurses’ moral norm and intention. |
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| ISSN: | 1477-0989 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Nursing ethics
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1177/0969733014557117 |