In this literature review, a picture is given of the complexity of nursing attitudes toward euthanasia. The myriad of data found in empirical literature is mostly framed within a polarised debate and inconclusive about the complex reality behind attitudes toward euthanasia. Yet, a further examination of the content as well as the context of attitudes is more revealing. The arguments for euthana...

The idea of passive euthanasia has recently been attacked in a particularly clear and explicit way by an ‘‘Ethics Task Force’’ established by the European Association of Palliative Care (EAPC) in February 2001. It claims that the expression ‘‘passive euthanasia’’ is a contradiction in terms and hence that there can be no such thing. This paper critically assesses the main arguments for the Task...

The word euthanasia evokes emotions, regardless of the way it is used. When pronounced, instead of a rational discourse, separate camps of irreconcilable proponents and opponents are drawn up. Both fight for dignity, liberty, autonomy, rights and humaneness. Few debates in the area of health care result in such polarization of opinions as euthanasia. While for some people euthanasia is a manife...

A qualitative study explored beliefs about active voluntary euthanasia (AVE) in a sample (N = 18) of medical practitioners and nurses from Australia, where AVE is not currently legal. Four behaviors relating to AVE emerged during the interviews: requesting euthanasia for oneself, legalizing AVE, administering AVE to patients if it were legalized, and discussing AVE with patients if they request...

Euthanasia (permintaan untuk mati) merupakan fenomena baru di dunia Hukum Pidana. Dikatakan demikian karena dalam jaman dahulu (kuno) belum ada semacam ini. Ini muncul berkembangnya faham individualism atau liberalisme yang melanda barat. Akibat dari perkembangan itu hak-hak seseorang harus dilindungi, termasuk hak mati (euthanasia). Jenis penelitian ini adalah Yuridis normatif, sifat diskripti...

suicide has been regarded as a great sin in different religions. since 1791, two years after the french revolution, the criminality of suicide was removed in france as people are regarded free which could decide about themselves. euthanasia or mercy killing is the intentional killing by act or omission of a dependent human being for his or her alleged benefit. if death is not intended, it is no...

This article is concerned with the practice of euthanasia in Belgium. Background information is provided; then major developments that have taken place since the enactment of the Belgian Act on Euthanasia are analysed. Concerns are raised about (1) the changing role of physicians and imposition on nurses to perform euthanasia; (2) the physicians' confusion and lack of understanding of the Act o...

We assume that actors of the professionalization process of palliative care make a special effort to demarcate it from euthanasia, and that such an effort has a significant impact on beliefs and attitudes toward euthanasia among the whole medical profession. We investigated concurrently attitudes toward palliative care, conceptions of euthanasia and opinion toward its legalization among a sampl...

BACKGROUND This study tests how various kinds of trust impact attitudes toward euthanasia among the general public. The indication that trust might have an impact on euthanasia attitudes is based on the slippery slope argument, which asserts that allowing euthanasia might lead to abuses and involuntary deaths. Adopting this argument usually leads to less positive attitudes towards euthanasia. T...

BACKGROUND Euthanasia is an increasingly debated subject among specialized professionals and also among lay people, even in countries such as Brazil where it is not authorized. It is questionable, however, if the concept of euthanasia is well known by these persons. OBJECTIVE The goal of this study was to investigate knowledge about the definition of euthanasia by family caregivers of patient...