"Euthanasia": a survey by the Swiss Association for Palliative Care

Abstract

Since the Swiss Association for Palliative Care (SAPC) considers itself an important partner in the national debate on euthanasia, the Board decided to conduct a survey among its members. An anonymous questionnaire was sent to the 726 members of the SAPC, consisting of multiple choice questions on positions that might be adopted in different hypothetical scenarios and one open question about the rationale for the answers. The response rate achieved with one mailing was 55.6%. The proportions of the respondents who were opposed to different forms of euthanasia were, in ascending order: 56% opposed to physician-assisted suicide (PAS); 69% to direct active euthanasia (DAE); 75% to DAE for psychiatric patients; 84% to delegation of DAE in the case of incompetent patients; and 90% to life-terminating acts without explicit requests (LAWER). Almost 10% of the members reported personal experiences with PAS and different forms of DAE. The main decisional bases drawn on for the answers were ethical values and the clinical or personal experience of the respondents; however, the same categories of arguments were used both by those opposing and by those favouring DAE. There are important variations among the members of the SAPC in the debate on euthanasia. Individual autonomy seems to be an important underlying concept for the different positions; the categories of arguments cited by opponents and supporters of DAE did not differ.

Attitudes toward assisted death amongst Portuguese oncologists

“…After the study of questionnaires used in other countries, namely, those kindly sent to me at my request by Helga Kuhse [5], Frederich Stiefel [12], David Doukas [13], and Diane Meier [14], a new questionnaire was developed. As all the questionnaires consulted were different from each other, some choices had to be made with the selection of questions, which had to be clear and informative and not too many.…”

The complexity of nurses’ attitudes toward euthanasia: a review of the literature

“…The thirty studies comprised eighteen quantitative studies, [11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29] nine qualitative studies, [30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37] two literature reviews, 2 3 and one anthropological account of euthanasia practice.…”

“…The principle of respect for autonomy-for example, was described as: the right of the patient to decide; 20 the patient's own request; 31 patient autonomy, 19 and self determination. 37 Moreover, ''slippery slope'' arguments were indicated by remarks such as: the need for better safeguards; 11 potential abuse; 19 29 31-33 37 the history of the Nazi regime's euthanasia programmes, 14 and economic considerations. 32 There seems to be a gap between philosophical theorising and what nurses actually experience in clinical settings.…”

“…It is also in line with Verpoort et al's findings that palliative care nurses were the only subgroup of nurses without a clear majority in favour of euthanasia. Bittel et al 14 found that 29% of Swiss palliative care nurses and other palliative care professionals would offer euthanasia if this were allowed by law. Yet more than two thirds of both groups would refuse a patient's request for euthanasia even if it were legal.…”

“…The studies were set in the USA, 2 15 19 23 27-29 32 Australia, 11 12 16 18 20 25 33 Japan, 13 26 Finland, 24 31 The Netherlands, 36 38 Canada, 34 37 Belgium, 3 36 Switzerland, 14 Israel, 22 and Hungary. 17 In addition, one study was set at an international midwifery conference 21 and one was a cross cultural study.…”