Nurses Attitude towards Euthanasia - Essay Example

An investigative study done on the attitude of nurses during Euthanasia in Zahedan Iran showed that with empathy, a quality end of life service is provided. Nurses giving quality care to dying patients require an effective way of coping with stress and a deep understanding of the end of life (Moisio, 2017). Those nurses who cannot face the threat of death do withdraw themselves from patients and their families, and the great fear inside them reflected on their attitudes.

Thus, determining the feelings and attitudes of nurses to dying patients and the act of Euthanasia and profoundly understanding the factors that affect their mood gives a more in-depth knowledge of how quality and an efficient end of life care can be provided (Moisio, 2019). The study in Iran also showed that the decision of end of life affects the lives of nurses and healthcare providers by reducing job satisfaction and burnout.

The above study was done in Zahedan, Iran, also clearly showed that nurses are aware of patient’s wishes to end their life due to prolonged illness, and they acknowledged that Euthanasia should be applied to patients with a fatal disease or last stage cancer (Moisio, 2019). Most nurses tend to resolve to Euthanasia to help the bereaved family members who are expected to pay the vast accumulated hospital bills.

The role of education in shaping nurses’ attitudes

Nurses, when faced with an encounter of Euthanasia, request some do feel anger. This negative attitude of nurses towards Euthanasia can be modified by education about death (Moisio, 2017). The study above also showed that these requests are common when patients have been admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) with no physical response being seen. ICU accumulates a lot of bills typically with inputs such as oxygen being paid for. Therefore, the negative attitude of nurses towards Euthanasia should be changed by availing education on reasons for it.

Factors affecting nurses’ attitudes

Gender also affects nurses’ attitudes towards Euthanasia. According to the study conducted by Dag and Badir, male nurses were only a few. Thus a significant number of nurses happen to be female who gets the euthanasia request (Moisio, 2019). Female nurses tend to have a lot of concern about Euthanasia. Their attitude towards Euthanasia happens to be a projection of their inner fear and reservation towards death.

Death scale fear was among the findings on the study conducted in Zahend Iran. Nurses who had experienced an intense loss recently to the study had a more massive scale fear score (Moisio, 2017). Such nurses, when they get euthanasia requests from patients, they tend to be provoked to anger. Their fear scale thus rises and, in some cases, a mental disturbance that affects service provision.

Nurses also tend to avoid working with dying patients. Emotional damage is experienced together with a decreased output of job satisfaction (Moisio, 2017). The concept of death, value is given to terminally ill patients, and the defence mechanism that comes with attachment gained from caring for dying patients causes a significant source of stress to the nurses. The study showed that nurses with a closer relationship with their dying patients tend to experience burnout more often.

In conclusion, it is clear from the above-detailed study, that the attitude of nurses during Euthanasia plays a vital role in the provision of end life care. Euthanasia is majorly considered in cases where the patient has a terminal illness. A better attitude from nurses brings about an efficient end of life care to patients. Nurses are also encouraged to be empathetic to dying patients and their families. ICU nurses tend to have a positive attitude towards Euthanasia. It is therefore proposed that health workers be educated on Euthanasia to get a positive attitude from them. A positive attitude from nurses will thus bring about an efficient and quality end of life care.