Attitudes of Psychiatric Nurses about the Request for Euthanasia on the Basis of Unbearable Mental Suffering(UMS)
Open accessAbstract
INTRODUCTION: When psychiatric patients express a wish for euthanasia, this should first and foremost be interpreted as a cry for help. Due to their close day-to-day relationship, psychiatric nurses may play an important and central role in responding to such requests. However, little is known about nurses' attitudes towards euthanasia motivated by unbearable mental suffering. OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to provide insight into the attitudes and actions taken by psychiatric nurses when confronted with a patient's euthanasia request based on unbearable mental suffering (UMS). METHOD: A questionnaire was sent to 11 psychiatric hospitals in the Flemish part of Belgium. RESULTS: The overall response rate was 70% (N = 627). Psychiatric nurses were frequently confronted with a request for euthanasia, either directly (N = 329, 53%) or through a colleague (N = 427, 69%). A majority (N = 536, 84%) did not object to euthanasia in a psychiatrically ill population with UMS. Confounding factors were the psychiatric diagnosis and the type of ward where the nurses were working. Most participants acknowledged a lack of knowledge and skills to adequately address the euthanasia request (N = 434, 71%). Nearly unanimously (N = 618, 99%), study participants indicated that dealing with euthanasia requests and other end-of-life issues should be part of the formal training of nurses. CONCLUSION: The results highlight the need for ethically sound and comprehensive provision of care. Psychiatric nurses play an important role in dealing with the complex issue of requests for euthanasia. There is also a need for education, training and clear guidelines on the level of health care organizations.
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Dutch psychiatric nurses are supportive of patients with different mental disorders to make an informed decision about MAiD-NT, and the majority feel themselves able to address and discuss the issue with their patients.
“Dutch psychiatric nurses are also supportive of patients with different mental disorders to make an informed decision about MAiD-NT [44] and the majority feel themselves able to address and discuss the issue with their patients [45].”
From Debating Euthanasia and Physician-Assisted Death in People with Psychiatric Disorders (2022) · cites this paper as [45]
The citation to this paper, [45], is attached to the claim that most nurses felt able to discuss the issue. In Results (Competencies of psychiatric nurses; page unavailable), 88% agreed that a psychiatric nurse should and can discuss euthanasia with a patient. But the study sampled nurses in Dutch-speaking Belgium, not the Netherlands, and 71% said they lacked sufficient knowledge, information and skills to deal with a request. (LLM, conf=0.87)
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- Authors
- De Hert, M., Van Bos, L., Sweers, K., Wampers, M., De Lepeleire, J., & Correll, C. U.
- Affiliations
- KU Leuven (BE)
- Corresponding author
- Sweers, Kim
- ORCID
- Wampers, Martien
- Venue
- PLOS ONE
- Publisher
- Public Library of Science (PLoS)
- Published
- 2015-12-23
- Volume
- 10
- Issue
- 12
- Pages
- e0144749
- ISSN
- 1932-6203 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC4689522
- OpenAlex
- W2205636987
- Cited by
- 44
- References
- 27
- Citations by year
- 2026: 3 · 2025: 3 · 2024: 4 · 2023: 4 · 2022: 8 · 2021: 9 · 2020: 6 · 2019: 3 · 2018: 2 · 2017: 2
- FWCI
- 1.43
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- PLoS ONE (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Lirias (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion)
- Figshare (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Palliative and Oncologic Care
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Palliative Care and End-of-Life Issues
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Ethics and bioethics in healthcare
- Keywords
- euthanasia, psychiatric nurses, nurses' attitudes, end-of-life care, psychiatric inpatients, nurse training, mental health ethics
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Attitude of Health Personnel, Attitude to Death, Belgium, Euthanasia, Female, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Nursing Staff, Palliative Care, Surveys and Questionnaires, Stress, Psychological, Young Adult
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