title: Nurses' attitudes towards euthanasia: a cross-sectional study in Iran.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Nurses have an important role in caring for terminally ill patients. They are often confronted with euthanasia but little is known about their attitudes towards it. The present study aimed to examine Iranian Muslim nurses' attitudes towards euthanasia.
  
  
  METHODS
  In this exploratory cross-sectional study, all qualified registered nurses working in two teaching hospitals (Kashani and Hajar hospitals) in Iran were invited to participate. The Euthanasia Attitude Scale (EAS) was used to assess the nurses' attitude towards euthanasia. Of 266 nurses who fit the criteria, 190 participated in the study (response rate 72.9%); 91.1% (n=173) were female and 8.9% (n=17) were male.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In total, 57.4%, 3.2% and 39.5% of nurses reported a negative, neutral and positive attitude to euthanasia respectively. Nurses reported their most negative attitude to the domain 'practical consideration' with mean of 2.36±0.9 and most positive attitude to the domain 'treasuring life' with a mean EAS score of 2.85±0.4.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The majority of Muslim nurses were found to have negative attitudes to euthanasia. We recommend that future studies should be conducted to examine Muslim nurses' attitudes to euthanasia in different cultures to determine the role of culture and religious beliefs in attitude to euthanasia.
authors.affiliation: Nurse Educator, Department of Medical-Surgical Nursing, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Shahrekord University of Medical Science, Shahrekord, Iran.
authors.forename: Ladan
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Naseh
authors.forename: Hossein
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Rafiei
authors.forename: Mohammad
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Heidari
mesh_terms: D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005065:Euthanasia; D006801:Humans; D007492:Iran; D009740:Nursing Staff / Q000523:psychology*
keywords: End-of-life care; Euthanasia; Muslim; Nurses; Religion