scholarly journals Voluntary assisted dying in Victoria: Why knowing the law matters to nurses

2020 ◽  
pp. 096973302094445
Author(s):  
Jayne Hewitt ◽  
Ben White ◽  
Katrine Del Villar ◽  
Lindy Willmott ◽  
Laura Ley Greaves ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
End Of Life ◽  
Nursing Care ◽  
Terminal Illness ◽  
Nursing Practice ◽  
Assisted Dying ◽  
Legal Knowledge ◽  
Compassionate Care ◽  
The Law

In 2017, Victoria became the first state in Australia to pass legislation permitting voluntary assisted dying. Under this law, only those people who are near the end of their lives may access voluntary assisted dying, and because many of these people require nursing care to manage the progression of their illness or their symptoms, it will invariably have an impact on nursing practice. The Victorian law includes a series of procedural steps as safeguards to ensure that the law operates as intended. To support people who choose voluntary assisted dying and to practice safely within boundaries of the law, nurses must be aware of these requirements and how they operate. However, there are often gaps in nurses’ legal knowledge. This was demonstrated in an article that aimed to inform nurses about the operation of Voluntary Assisted Dying Act 2017 (Vic) but contained several errors and misstatements of the law. Our article corrects these errors and discusses how the law is intended to be applied by revisiting the fictional case of Chloe – a woman with a terminal illness who is seeking voluntary assisted dying. As the Voluntary Assisted Dying Act 2017 (Vic) also protects nurses from liability if they act in accordance with its provisions, we conclude that sound knowledge and understanding of its operation support nurses to provide the safe, comprehensive and compassionate care their patients deserve at the end of life.

scholarly journals Exploring Nurses’ Meaning and Experiences of Compassion: An International Online Survey Involving 15 Countries

2015 ◽  
Vol 28 (3) ◽  
pp. 286-295 ◽  
Author(s):  
Irena Papadopoulos ◽  
Georgina Taylor ◽  
Sheila Ali ◽  
Magdeline Aagard ◽  
Ozlem Akman ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Nursing Care ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Nursing Practice ◽  
Compassionate Care ◽  
Survey Results ◽  
Similarities And Differences ◽  
Sociopolitical Influences ◽  
Shared Understandings ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Culture Differences

Purpose: In recent years, there has been much focus on compassion in nursing care, and concern has been raised in a number of reports and media stories regarding decreased compassion. The aim of this study was to explore similarities and differences in the understanding and demonstration of compassion in nursing practice across 15 countries. Design: A total of 1,323 nurses from 15 countries responded to questions in relation to compassion, via an international online survey. Results: The data revealed the impact of sociopolitical influences on perceptions of compassion, and the conscious and intentional nature of compassion. Discussion and Conclusion: The study demonstrated shared understandings of the importance of compassion as well as some common perceptions of the attributes of compassionate care. The differences reported were not as significant as had been expected. Implications for Practice: Further research is needed to explore the country and culture differences in the enactment of compassion.

International Perspectives on End-of-Life Law Reform

2021 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
End Of Life ◽  
The United States ◽  
Law Reform ◽  
Assisted Dying ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
International Perspectives ◽  
Life Sustaining Treatment ◽  
The Law ◽  
Shed Light ◽  
Do So

Much has been written about whether end-of-life law should change and what that law should be. However, the barriers and facilitators of such changes – law reform perspectives – have been virtually ignored. Why do so many attempts to change the law fail but others are successful? International Perspectives on End-of-Life Law Reform aims to address this question by drawing on ten case studies of end-of-life law reform from the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, the Netherlands, Belgium and Australia. Written by leading end-of-life scholars, the book's chapters blend perspectives from law, medicine, bioethics and sociology to examine sustained reform efforts to permit assisted dying and change the law about withholding and withdrawing life-sustaining treatment. Findings from this book shed light not only on changing end-of-life law, but provide insight more generally into how and why law reform succeeds in complex and controversial social policy areas.

LEGAL SKETCH «THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE LEGAL EXCUSES AND PROVERBS OF ANCIENT ROME AS A MEANS OF LEGAL PROPAGANDA ABOUT LEGAL KNOWLEDGE AND CULTURE»

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexander Kukharev ◽  
Alexander Rusu
Keyword(s):  
Digital Age ◽  
Legal Culture ◽  
Roman Law ◽  
Ancient Rome ◽  
Legal Knowledge ◽  
The Law ◽  
Law Making

This article discusses adaptation of the norms and ideals of Roman law to modern legal culture, the basis of Roman legal relations, which is the basis of modern law-making. It is important to learn how the culture of the law of ancient Rome influenced the formation of modern law of the digital age. The purpose of writing the paper was to highlight the influence of the legal culture of ancient Rome on modern reality.

Happiness at the end of life: A qualitative study

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-7
Author(s):  
Tan Seng Beng ◽  
Wong Ka Ghee ◽  
Ng Yun Hui ◽  
Ooi Chieh Yin ◽  
Khoo Wei Shen Kelvin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Palliative Care ◽  
Qualitative Study ◽  
End Of Life ◽  
Terminal Illness ◽  
Terminally Ill ◽  
Social Connections ◽  
Targeted Interventions ◽  
Pain And Suffering ◽  
The University ◽  
Eudaimonic Happiness

Abstract Objective Dying is mostly seen as a dreadful event, never a happy experience. Yet, as palliative care physicians, we have seen so many patients who remained happy despite facing death. Hence, we conducted this qualitative study to explore happiness in palliative care patients at the University of Malaya Medical Centre. Method Twenty terminally ill patients were interviewed with semi-structured questions. The results were thematically analyzed. Results Eight themes were generated: the meaning of happiness, connections, mindset, pleasure, health, faith, wealth, and work. Our results showed that happiness is possible at the end of life. Happiness can coexist with pain and suffering. Social connections were the most important element of happiness at the end of life. Wealth and work were given the least emphasis. From the descriptions of our patients, we recognized a tendency for the degree of importance to shift from the hedonic happiness to eudaimonic happiness as patients experienced a terminal illness. Significance of results To increase the happiness of palliative care patients, it is crucial to assess the meaning of happiness for each patient and the degree of importance for each happiness domain to allow targeted interventions.

Views of Registered Dietitians Compared to Speech-Language Pathologists on Artificial Nutrition and Hydration at the End of Life

2021 ◽  
pp. 104990912199431
Author(s):  
Molly K Bigford ◽  
Roschelle Heuberger ◽  
Erica Raymond ◽  
Viki Shayna ◽  
James Paauw
Keyword(s):  
End Of Life ◽  
Terminal Illness ◽  
Descriptive Analysis ◽  
Study Patient ◽  
Artificial Nutrition ◽  
Speech Language Pathologists ◽  
Artificial Nutrition And Hydration ◽  
Nutrition And Hydration ◽  
Evidenced Based ◽  
Registered Dietitian Nutritionists

Objective: To analyze and compare the knowledge and opinions of registered dietitian nutritionists (RDNs) about artificial nutrition and hydration (ANH) in a terminal illness. Beliefs of speech-language pathologists (SLPs) were also considered and compared against RDN data. Methods: This is a descriptive analysis utilizing survey responses from RDNs and SLPs regarding ANH in a case study patient with advanced dementia. Results: There was a strong belief among RDNs that ANH at end of life (EOL) would improve nutritional status, although a correlation was found between those in favor of ANH and believing it was ethical to withhold ANH at EOL (R2 = 0.109, p = 0.002). Responses indicated that SLPs need more education regarding ANH techniques, while RDNs felt ANH would improve aspiration risk. Place of employment, religion and age of respondents were also found to impact beliefs. Conclusion: Clinicians, specifically RDNs, working with patients at EOL need more evidenced-based education on the risks and benefits of ANH. Decisions regarding care of patients at EOL should be void of clinicians’ personal bias which may affect ethical treatment in the clinical setting. Further controlled trials must be performed before claims can be made regarding ANH at EOL.

Assisted dying reframed in the context of English law’s approach to suicide

2020 ◽  
pp. 096853322098263
Author(s):  
Elizabeth Wicks
Keyword(s):  
Assisted Dying ◽  
Legal Duty ◽  
The Law

This article seeks to reframe the issue of assisted dying in terms of English law’s broader regulation of suicide. It identifies a long-standing ambiguity about the role of the law in respect of suicide, notwithstanding its decriminalisation in the Suicide Act 1961. Reviewing the passage of that Act and subsequent judicial and parliamentary involvement, the article identifies some pertinent unanswered questions such as whether suicide can ever be viewed as a legitimate exercise of autonomy; whether assistance in performing suicide should ever be lawful; and when exactly there is a legal duty on others to intervene to prevent a suicide. It is argued that until such questions are addressed directly in the broader context of suicide, the appropriate legal approach to assisted dying cannot be settled.

ICU physicians, end-of-life care, and the law: authors’ reply

2005 ◽  
Vol 31 (12) ◽  
pp. 1726-1726 ◽  
Author(s):  
Salvatore Maurizio Maggiore ◽  
Massimo Antonelli
Keyword(s):  
End Of Life ◽  
End Of Life Care ◽  
Life Care ◽  
The Law ◽  
Icu Physicians

BMA end-of-life care and physician-assisted dying project

2016 ◽  
Vol 42 (6) ◽  
pp. 409-410 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sophie Brannan ◽  
Ruth Campbell ◽  
Martin Davies ◽  
Veronica English ◽  
Rebecca Mussell ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
End Of Life ◽  
End Of Life Care ◽  
Assisted Dying ◽  
Life Care ◽  
Physician Assisted Dying
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