THE ROLE OF NURSES IN EUTHANASIA - A DUTCH STUDY

What role do nurses play in euthanasia? How do they experience this ro le and what should be their ideal role? These are the questions of a s tudy undertaken to gain insight into the role of nurses in euthanasia. Answers to these questions were derived from 20 semistructured in-dep th interviews with nurses employed in a Dutch hospital. To make clear the role of nurses in euthanasia, the issue was split up into four pha ses: observation of a request for euthanasia; decision making; carryin g out of the request; and aftercare. This article is a brief report on the most important results regarding these four phases. Special atten tion will be paid to nurses who have conscientious objections. To eval uate the study results, an unambiguous interpretation of the concept o f 'euthanasia' is of most importance. For that reason, Dutch laws and other regulations concerning euthanasia will be explained.