Attitudes of registered nurses toward euthanasia

Abstract

We sought to identify variables that contribute to euthanasia attitude and behavior, including demographics, death fears, experience with death, attitudes toward patient autonomy, and level of moral development.

Subjects were 137 registered nurses from the southeastern United States representing 13 clinical nursing areas. Principal components analysis identified four factors that together explained 62.9% of total variance. These factors were belief in afterlife, nursing experience, liberal or conservative political view, and personal values. Variables identified through factor analysis were entered into regression analyses. These analyses showed that increased religious belief, years of nursing experience, and propensity to view death as an end of existence predicted opposition to euthanasia. Predictors for euthanasia support included a liberal political view, more experience with dying patients, and the belief that patients should have a personal responsibility for their own health-care decisions.