Nurses' values on medical aid in dying: A qualitative analysis.

Explore nurses' values and perceptions regarding the practice of medical aid in dying. Medical aid in dying is becoming increasing legal in the United States. The laws and American Nurses Association documents limit nursing involvement in this practice.

Attitudes of nurses toward patient-directed dying: a pilot study.

Patient-directed dying (PDD) will be an increasingly common issue faced by healthcare professionals. Nevertheless, few studies have explored nurses' attitudes toward PDD. This pilot project sets out to fill the gap regarding nurses' attitudes and values regarding PDD and perceptions of consistency or inconsistency with the American Nurses Association (2001) Code of Ethics for Nurses With Interpretive Statements (The Code).

Identifying ethical issues from the perspective of the registered nurse.

A review of the formal ethics consultations performed at a rural academic medical center during 2006 revealed that only 5 of 72 consultations were initiated by nurses. A descriptive exploratory convenience study used a 3-item survey to collect information from registered nurses who provide direct patient care at the rural academic medical center. The purpose of this study was to (1) identify and describe the ethical issues perceived by registered nurses employed at a rural academic medical center and (2) analyze the variables influencing the registered nurses' ethical decision making and the process used by these registered nurses when resolving ethical issues.

Do psychiatric advance directives protect autonomy?

A psychiatric advance directive (PAD) is a legal resource that allows a person to document his or her wishes about receiving mental health services in the event that he or she is unable to provide consent at a future time. Advantages for completing a PAD include promoting the person's autonomy and authentic self, minimizing harms, and promoting beneficence. However, more research is needed to describe the positive and negative consequences associated with completing and implementing a PAD in the clinical setting.