Acceptability of Assisted Suicide in Patients With Severe and Persistent Mental Illness
A Pilot Study on Attitudes Among Nurses in Switzerland
Abstract
Abstract. In Switzerland, assisted suicide (AS) may be granted on the basis of a psychiatric diagnosis. This pilot study explored the moral attitudes and beliefs of nurses regarding these practices through a quantitative survey of 38 psychiatric nurses. The pilot study, which serves to inform hypothesis development and future studies, showed that participating nurses supported AS and valued the reduction of suffering in patients with severe persistent mental illness. Findings were compared with those from a previously published study presenting the same questions to psychiatrists. The key differences between nurses’ responses and psychiatrists, may reflect differences in the burden of responsibility, while similarities might capture shared values worth considering when determining treatment efforts. More information is needed to determine whether these initial findings represent nurses’ views more broadly.
References
2018, November 21). Hospital Statistics: Standard Tables 2018, https://www.bfs.admin.ch
. (2019). Attitudes toward assisted suicide requests in the context of severe and persistent mental illness: A survey of psychiatrists in Switzerland. Palliative and Supportive Care, 17(6), 621–627. https://doi.org/10.1017/s1478951519000233
(2013). The nursing profession: public image, self-concept and professional identity: A discussion paper. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 70(2), 295–309. https://doi.org/10.1111/jan.12177
(2017). Assisted suicide in Switzerland: Clarifying liberties and claims. Bioethics, 31(3), 199–208. https://doi.org/10.1111/bioe.12304
(2018). Medical assistance in dying: Challenges for psychiatry. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 9(678). https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2018.00678
(2016). Registered nurses as caregivers: Influencing the system as patient advocates. The Online Journal of Issues in Nursing, 21. http://ojin.nursingworld.org/MainMenuCategories/ANAMarketplace/ANAPeriodicals/OJIN
(2005). Euthanasia and physicians’ moral duties. The Journal of Medicine and Philosophy, 30(5), 517–533. https://doi.org/10.1080/03605310500253071
(2015). Role of the registered nurse in primary health care: Meeting health care needs in the 21st century. Nursing Outlook, 63(2), 130–136. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.outlook.2014.08.004
(2017). Ethics and the legalization of physician-assisted suicide: An American College of Physicians position paper. Annals of Internal Medicine, 167(8), 576. https://doi.org/10.7326/m17-0938
(2018). Palliative sedation on the grounds of intolerable psychological suffering and its implications for treatment-refractory mental disorders. Bioethica Forum, 11(2/3), 45–49.
(2016). Palliative psychiatry for severe persistent mental illness as a new approach to psychiatry? Definition, scope, benefits, and risks. BMC Psychiatry, 16(260), 1–6. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12888-016-0970-y
(