title: Attitudes of nursing staff towards involvement in medical end-of-life decisions: a national survey study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate nursing staff attitudes towards involvement and role in end-of-life decisions (ELDs) and the relationships with sociodemographic and work-related characteristics.
  
  
  METHODS
  Survey study among nationally representative Dutch research sample consisting of care professionals. Nursing staff working in hospitals, home care, nursing homes or homes for the elderly were sent ELD-questionnaire.
  
  
  RESULTS
  
  
  
  RESULTS
  66% (n=587). Most respondents had been involved in ELD. Three quarters wanted to be involved in whole ELD process; 58% agreed that decisions to withhold/withdraw treatment ought to be discussed with the nurses involved; 64% believed patients would talk rather to nurses than physicians; 72% thought physicians are usually prepared to listen to nurses' opinions. Hospital and highly educated nursing staff indicated relatively more often that they want to be involved in ELD.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Majority of nursing staff want to be involved in ELD. Work setting and educational level are determining factors in attitudes of nursing staff regarding involvement in ELD.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Awareness on the important role nurses have and want to have in ELD should be raised, and taken into account in trainings on end-of-life care for nurses and physicians and development of guidelines for communication about ELD between patients, nursing staff and physicians.
authors.affiliation: End-of-Life Care Research Group, Ghent University & Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels, Belgium. Electronic address: gwenda.albers@vub.ac.be.
authors.forename: Gwenda
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Albers
authors.affiliation: NIVEL, Netherlands Institute of Health Services Research, Utrecht, Netherlands; Department of Public and Occupational Health, EMGO Institute for Health and Care Research, VU University Medical Center, Amsterdam, Netherlands; Expertise Center for Palliative Care Amsterdam, VU University Medical Center, Amsterdam, Netherlands.
authors.forename: Anneke L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Francke
authors.affiliation: NIVEL, Netherlands Institute of Health Services Research, Utrecht, Netherlands.
authors.forename: Anke J E
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: de Veer
authors.affiliation: End-of-Life Care Research Group, Ghent University & Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels, Belgium; Department of Public Health, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels, Belgium.
authors.forename: Johan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bilsen
authors.affiliation: Department of Public and Occupational Health, EMGO Institute for Health and Care Research, VU University Medical Center, Amsterdam, Netherlands; Expertise Center for Palliative Care Amsterdam, VU University Medical Center, Amsterdam, Netherlands.
authors.forename: Bregje D
authors.initials: BD
authors.lastname: Onwuteaka-Philipsen
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D003657:Decision Making; D005260:Female; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009426:Netherlands; D024802:Nurse's Role; D009723:Nurse-Patient Relations / Q000941:ethics; D009740:Nursing Staff / Q000523:psychology*; D012067:Religion; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013727:Terminal Care
keywords: Attitude of health personnel; Decision making/ethics; Nurse's role; Nurse–patient relations/ethics; Nursing staff/psychology; Palliative care; Questionnaires; Religion; Terminal care; Withholding Treatment/ethics