Almost half of the nurses who responded to the survey have at some point been in a situation where a patient or their loved one has brought up euthanasia or assisted suicide.
Fresh according to the survey, more than half of the nurses and ordinary Finns who responded support the legalization of euthanasia. More than 1,600 non-nursing Finns and approximately 1,800 nurses responded to the survey.
Three out of four of the ordinary Finns who responded to the survey completely agreed with the legalization of euthanasia. About a tenth of the respondents partially agreed.
“Based on the preliminary research results, citizens’ views have not changed much over the last few years,” says the docent of nursing science, who examined the topic in his doctoral research Anja Terkamo-Moisio from the University of Eastern Finland in a press release.
About three out of five of the ordinary Finns who responded to the survey completely agreed that a doctor should be able to assist a patient in committing suicide.
About three out of five of the nurses who responded to the survey completely agreed that euthanasia should be legalized in Finland. An equally large proportion of nurses were of the opinion that their views should be taken into account in decision-making regarding euthanasia.
Nearly half of the nurses who responded to the survey have at some point been in a situation where a patient or their loved one has brought up euthanasia or assisted suicide.
“The results of the study emphasize the importance of taking the nurses’ views into account as part of the social discussion on the subject,” says the special expert Minna Hökkä From Diakonia Vocational College.
The survey was conducted in February–March. It was implemented in cooperation with Diakonia University of Applied Sciences, the University of Eastern Finland and Finnish Nurses.
The final results of the study are scheduled to be published in international scientific publications during the years 2024–2025.
The citizens’ initiative to legalize euthanasia gathered the necessary 50,000 declarations of support at the beginning of March, so the initiative will proceed to the parliament. The initiative proposes that Finland enact a law on euthanasia and physician-assisted medical death.
The delegation of the Medical Association is supposed to decide on the union’s position on euthanasia in May.
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