The Right to Die: Healthcare Workers' Attitudes Compared with a National Public Poll

Abstract

Attitudes toward the right to die were investigated for hospital nurses and findings compared with a national poll. Both the general public and healthcare workers endorse an individual's right to self-determination. Nursing staff reported significant agreement that there are circumstances in which a person should be allowed to die, people have the right to make their own healthcare decisions, they would stop treatment if they were in great pain or unable to function, and the hospital or doctor should be held legally responsible if a patient's instruction to withhold life-sustaining treatment was ignored. Nurses reported significant disagreement that staff often disregard patient's instructions, that the killing of a spouse in pain can be justified, and people have a moral right to end their own lives if they have become a burden or life has become a burden.