The attitude of Canadian nurses towards advance directives.

This article seeks to shed light on the beliefs that influence nurses' intention of respecting or not respecting an advance directive document, namely a living will or a durable power of attorney. Nurses' beliefs were measured using a 44-statement questionnaire. The sample was made up of 306 nurses working either in a long-term care centre or in a hospital centre offering general and specialized care in the province of Québec.

Apolipoprotein E genotyping for pharmacogenetic purposes in Alzheimer's disease: emerging ethical issues.

Objective: To present some of the ethical concerns pertaining to the anticipated use of apolipoprotein E genotyping in selecting therapy in Alzheimer's disease.

Method: We review studies that support the utility of apolipoprotein E (APO E) genotyping for predicting drug responsiveness along with the published consensus statements and position papers related to APO E genotyping. Ethical issues pertaining to the use of APO E genotyping for pharmacogenetic purposes have not yet been fully explored, and these are discussed.

Current and future clinical trials for Alzheimer's disease: evolving ethical concerns.

1. An increase in the cases of Alzheimer's disease, primarily consequent to the rapid growth of the elderly population necessitates the enhanced pace of anti-dementia drug development and an increase in clinical trials. Clinical trials with persons with dementia, however, present with a number of ethical concerns that need to be anticipated and analyzed.

Informed proxy consent: communication between pediatric surgeons and surrogates about surgery.

Objective: Informed consent for surgical procedures requires that the procedures are explained and that the patient understands the procedures and risks and agrees to undergo them. Proxy consent occurs when an individual is provided with the legal right to make decisions on behalf of another. This study was conducted to determine how surgeons communicate information to obtain an informed proxy consent, and to investigate how that information is received and processed by surrogates responsible for providing such consent.