Assisted suicide and nursing: Possibly compatible?

White, Becky Cox

doi:10.1016/s8755-7223(99)80036-2

Cited by 10 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 36 publications

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“…2002; Hewitt & Edwards 2006; King & Jordan‐Welch 2003; Kowalski 1997; Muller et al . 1997, Pierce 1999; White 1999; Young & Ogden 2000). In addition, a special edition of The Journal of Professional Nursing focused on this matter (see White 1999; White & Zimbelman 1999).…”

Section: What Role If Any Should Psychiatric/mh Nurses Play In Assimentioning

confidence: 99%

“…1997, Pierce 1999; White 1999; Young & Ogden 2000). In addition, a special edition of The Journal of Professional Nursing focused on this matter (see White 1999; White & Zimbelman 1999). Further, opinion on the role of the nurse in assisted suicide is clearly divided.…”

Section: What Role If Any Should Psychiatric/mh Nurses Play In Assimentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Yet, in the same document, all nurses are reminded of their duty to respect the individual rights of the person and respect his or her human dignity. Interestingly, these duties have been used as arguments both for and against assisted suicide (see White 1999; White & Zimbelman 1999). The American Association of Nurses (1994) went so far as to offer a position statement on assisted suicide, (but the authors could not locate a similar position statement from the NMC or Canadian Psychiatric Nurses Association).…”

Section: What Role If Any Should Psychiatric/mh Nurses Play In Assimentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Whose life is it anyway? An exploration of five contemporary ethical issues that pertain to the psychiatric nursing care of the person who is suicidal: Part two

Cutcliffe

Links

2008

Int J Mental Health Nurs

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This is the second of a two-part paper which focuses on five principal issues/questions which can inform mental health nurses' ethical discourse around the matter of suicide. This second part focuses on the questions: is there such a phenomenon as a rational or appropriate suicide? And what role, if any, should mental health nurses occupy in assisted suicide? We find that the relevant theoretical and ethical literature in this area suggests, at least for some, that there may very well be such a phenomenon as a rationale suicide, especially if the often cited myth that all people who complete suicide must ipso facto have a mental health problem, is scrutinized. Furthermore, the extant literature indicates that while for the majority of suicidal acts, mental disorders may be a necessary but not sufficient element; the suicidal process is not, however, synonymous with mental disorder phenomenology. Lastly, whether or not there is a role(s) for mental health nurses in assisted suicide is difficult to say because there is almost no indication in the literature that such views have been solicited and considered. Given mental health nurses' often 'front-line' involvement in care of the person who is suicidal, there is an urgent need to canvass these views and include them in the debate. Lastly, given the content of current mental health nurses Codes of Ethics and Professional Codes of Conduct, there may be a need to revisit these codes in light of contemporary and changing views of assisted suicide.

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Section: What Role If Any Should Psychiatric/mh Nurses Play In Assimentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: What Role If Any Should Psychiatric/mh Nurses Play In Assimentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: What Role If Any Should Psychiatric/mh Nurses Play In Assimentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Whose life is it anyway? An exploration of five contemporary ethical issues that pertain to the psychiatric nursing care of the person who is suicidal: Part two

Cutcliffe

Links

2008

Int J Mental Health Nurs

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“…[6][7][8][9][10][11] They assert, for instance, that the ''ramifications are too disturbing for the patient-physician relationship and the trust to sustain it'', 12 and that physician aid in dying would cause patients ''great difficulty believing their doctor intends their best interests''. 13 Others hold contrary opinions 14 but, as Becky Cox White has noted, 15 neither side in this empirical debate cites any evidence for these competing assertions about impacts on trust. The debate is simply too important to be conducted in the absence of empirical data.…”

mentioning

confidence: 95%

The impact on patient trust of legalising physician aid in dying

Hall¹

2005

J Med Ethics

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Objective: Little empirical evidence exists to support either side of the ongoing debate over whether legalising physician aid in dying would undermine patient trust. Design: A random national sample of 1117 US adults were asked about their level of agreement with a statement that they would trust their doctor less if ''euthanasia were legal [and] doctors were allowed to help patients die''. Results: There was disagreement by 58% of the participants, and agreement by only 20% that legalising euthanasia would cause them to trust their personal physician less. The remainder were neutral. These attitudes were the same in men and women, but older people and black people had more agreement that euthanasia would lower trust. However, overall, only 27% of elderly people (age 65+) and 32% of black people thought that physician aid in dying would lower trust. These views differed with physical and mental health, and also with education and income, with those having more of these attributes tending to view physician aid in dying somewhat more favourably. Again, however, overall views in most of these subgroups were positive. Views about the effect of physician aid in dying on trust were significantly correlated with participants' underlying trust in their physicians and their satisfaction with care. In a multivariate regression model, trust, satisfaction, age, and white/black race remained independently significant. Conclusion: Despite the widespread concern that legalising physician aid in dying would seriously threaten or undermine trust in physicians, the weight of the evidence in the USA is to the contrary, although views vary significantly.

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“…For instance, there may be little empirical basis for the claim that patients would trust their physicians significantly less if physician-assisted suicide were legal. 31 Likewise, several…”

Section: The Supportive Stancementioning

confidence: 99%

The Importance of Trust for Ethics, Law, and Public Policy

Hall

2005

Cambridge Q. Healthcare Ethics

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The importance of preserving trust in physicians and in medical institutions has received widespread attention in recent years. Primarily, this is due to the threats to trust posed by managed care, but there is a general and growing recognition that trust deserves more attention than it traditionally has received in all aspects of medical ethics, law, and public policy. Trust has both intrinsic and instrumental value. Trust is intrinsically important because it is a core characteristic that affects the emotional and interpersonal aspects of the physician/ patient relationship. As an instrumental value, trust is widely believed to be essential for effective therapeutic encounters. It has been hypothesized or shown to affect a host of important behaviors and attitudes relating to care, including seeking care, disclosing private information, complying with treatment, and being satisfied with care. 3 Moreover, trust may be a mediator of measurable clinical outcomes and a key factor in the mind-body interactions that underlie placebo/nocebo effects and the effectiveness of alternative medicine. 4 It is no surprise, then, that preserving, justifying, and enhancing trust is the fundamental goal of much of medical ethics, 5 and is a prominent objective in healthcare law and public policy. 6 Discussions of trust and related concepts were commonplace in professionally based medical ethics prior to the 1970s. For instance, trust considerations were explicit in the AMA's original Code of Ethics from 1847 (Ch. 1, Art. I): A physician should not be forward to make gloomy prognostications,. .. [f]or, the physician should be the minister of hope and comfort to the sick; that. .. he may smooth the bed of death, revive expiring life, and counteract the depressing influence of those maladies which often disturb the tranquility of the most resigned in their last moments. The life of a sick person can be shortened not only by the acts, but also by the words or the manner of the physician. It is, therefore, a sacred duty to guard himself carefully in this respect, and to avoid all things which have a tendency to discourage the patient and to depress his spirits. This research was supported in part by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, under its Patient-Provider Relationship Initiative. Several colleagues contributed to the development of these ideas, including

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Assisted suicide and nursing: Possibly compatible?

Cited by 10 publications

References 36 publications

Whose life is it anyway? An exploration of five contemporary ethical issues that pertain to the psychiatric nursing care of the person who is suicidal: Part two

Whose life is it anyway? An exploration of five contemporary ethical issues that pertain to the psychiatric nursing care of the person who is suicidal: Part two

The impact on patient trust of legalising physician aid in dying

The Importance of Trust for Ethics, Law, and Public Policy

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