title: Nurses' attitudes towards euthanasia in conflict with professional ethical guidelines.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Despite the significant role of nurses in end-of-life care, their attitudes towards euthanasia are under-represented both in the current literature and the controversial debate that is ongoing in several countries.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  What are the attitudes towards euthanasia among Finnish nurses? Which characteristics are associated with those attitudes?
  
  
  METHODS
  Cross-sectional web-based survey. Participants and research context: A total of 1003 nurses recruited via the members' bulletin of the Finnish Nurses Association and social media. Ethical considerations: Ethical approval was obtained from the Committee on Research Ethics of the university to which the authors were affiliated.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The majority (74.3%) of the participants would accept euthanasia as part of Finnish healthcare, and 61.8% considered that Finland would benefit from a law permitting euthanasia. Most of the nurses (89.9%) thought that a person must have the right to decide on his or her own death; 77.4% of them considered it likely that they would themselves make a request for euthanasia in certain situations.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The value of self-determination and the ability to choose the moment and manner of one's death are emphasized in the nurses' attitudes towards euthanasia.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  A continuous dialogue about euthanasia and nurses' shared values is crucial due to the conflict between nurses' attitudes and current ethical guidelines on nursing.
authors.forename: Anja
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Terkamo-Moisio
authors.forename: Tarja
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kvist
authors.forename: Mari
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kangasniemi
authors.affiliation: University of Eastern Finland, Finland.
authors.forename: Teuvo
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Laitila
authors.affiliation: University of Eastern Finland, Finland; Kuopio University Hospital, Finland.
authors.forename: Olli-Pekka
authors.initials: OP
authors.lastname: Ryynänen
authors.affiliation: University of Eastern Finland, Finland; Social and Health Care Services, Finland.
authors.forename: Anna-Maija
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Pietilä
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004993:Ethics, Nursing; D005065:Euthanasia / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D005387:Finland; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009726:Nurses / Q000523:psychology*; D012068:Religion and Medicine; D012956:Societies, Nursing / Q000458:organization & administration; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
keywords: Attitude; Finland; ethics; euthanasia; registered nurse; social media; web-based survey