Accessing medical assistance in dying (MAiD) became legal in Canada in June, 2016. This marks a unique time in our history, as eligible persons can now opt for an assisted death and health care professionals can be involved without criminal repercussion. I used an autoethnographic approach to explore and describe my experience of implementing and coordinating a new MAiD program in a local health authority. Part I is a self-reflexive narrative based on journal entries about my immersion in this practice role over a 6 month period. In Part II, I share five emergent storylines: coming to the role (the calling), embodiment (becoming the face of), immersion in clinical practice, interactions with those seeking MAiD, and self survival (sense making). The created story and storylines shine a light on new ethical practice realities, enhance understanding about MAiD as it continues to unfold, and hopefully inspire human centered, compassionate care.
Angus Reid Institute. (2017, April13). A spectrum of spirituality: Canadians keep the faith to varying degrees, but few reject it entirely. Retrieved from http://angusreid.org/religion-in-canada-150/
3.
BeuthinR. (2015). Cultivating a narrative sensibility in nursing practice. Journal of Holistic Nursing, 33, 98–102. doi:10.1177/0898010114536633
4.
BeuthinR.BruceA. (2018). Inviting compassionate conversations about end of life: Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD) in Canada. In McIntyreM.McDonaldC. (Eds.), Realities of Canadian nursing: Professional, practice, and power issues (pp. 42–64). Philadelphia: Wolters Kluwer Health/Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.
5.
BruceA.BostonP. (2011). Relieving existential suffering through palliative sedation: Discussion of an uneasy practice. Journal of Advanced Nursing Practice, 67, 2732–2740. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2648.2011.05711.x
6.
BruceA.DaudtH.BreiddalS. (2018). Can writing and storytelling foster self-care? A qualitative inquiry into facilitated dinners. Journal of Hospice & Palliative Nursing, 20(6), 1-7.
Canadian Nurses Protective Society. (2016, July7). Medical assistance in dying: What every nurse should know. Retrieved from https://www.cnps.ca/index.php?page=348
EllisC.AdamsT. E.BochnerA. P. (2010). Autoethnography: An overview. Forum Qualitative Sozialforschung/Forum: Qualitative Social Research, 12(1), Article 10. Retrieved from http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:0114-fqs1101108
18.
EllisC.BochnerA. (2000). Autoethnography, personal narrative, reflexivity: Researcher as subject. In DenzinN. K.LincolnY. S. (Eds.), The handbook of qualitative research (pp. 733–767). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
KarsohoH.FishmanJ.WrightD.MacdonaldM. (2016). Suffering and medicalization at the end of life: The case of physician-assisted dying. Social Science & Medicine, 170, 188–196. doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2016.10.010
25.
KearneyR. (1984). Dialogues with contemporary continental thinkers: The phenomenological heritage. Manchester, UK: Manchester University Press.
LevinasE. (1966). On the trail of the other. Philosophy Today, 10, 34–46. doi:10.5840/philtoday19661014
28.
LiM.WattS.EscafM.GardamM.HeestersA.O’LearyG.RodinG. (2017). Medical assistance in dying—Implementing a hospital-based program in Canada. The New England Journal of Medicine, 376, 2082–2088. doi:10.1056/NEJMms1700606
29.
MarionJ. (2007). The erotic phenomenon: Six meditations. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.
30.
MartinS. (2016). A good death: Making the most of our final choices. Toronto: HarperCollins.
MorseJ. (2002). Writing my own experience. Qualitative Health Research, 12, 1159–1160. doi:10.1177/1049732302238241
33.
NaefR. (2006). Bearing witness: A moral way of engaging in the nurse–person relationship. Nursing Philosophy, 7, 146–156. doi:10.1111/j.1466-769X.2006.00271.x
34.
PakenhamK. (2011). Benefit-finding and sense-making in chronic illness. In FolkmanS. (Ed.), The Oxford handbook of stress, health, and coping (pp. 242–268). New York: Oxford University Press.
35.
ParkC. (2011). Meaning, coping, and health and well-being. In FolkmanS. (Ed.), The Oxford handbook of stress, health, and coping (pp. 227–241). New York: Oxford University Press.
36.
PicardA. (2017, August23). CMA poll finds rising support for medically assisted death. The Globe and Mail. Retrieved from https://www.theglobeandmail.com/
RaatikainenR. (1997). Nursing care as a calling. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 25, 1111–1115. doi:10.1046/j.1365-2648.1997.19970251111.x
39.
RobertsonW.PewarchukJ.RegglerJ.GreenS.DawsT.TroutonK. (2017). Case review of medically assisted deaths on Vancouver Island. British Columbia Medical Journal, 59, 305–309.
TolichM. (2010). A critique of current practice: Ten foundational guidelines for autoethnographers. Qualitative Health Research, 20, 1599–1610. doi:10.1177/1049732310376076
Van LuvenL (Ed.). (2000). Going some place: Creative non-fiction across Canada. Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada: Coteau Books.
44.
WackersG. (2016). Recursive health care structures and choice in the manner of our dying: An auto-ethnographic account. Qualitative Health Research, 26, 452–465. doi:10.1177/1049732315576498
45.
WilsonD. (2017, January21). Vancouver Island reports B.C.’s highest assisted death rate. CBC News. Available from http://www.cbc.ca
