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IntroductionOver the last decades a positive shift in attitudes towards legalisation of assisted dying (AD) (AD including euthanasia (EUT) and physician-assisted suicide (PAS)) have occurred in western Europe. Physicians are generally more negative than the general public toward legalisation. Medical students’ attitudes, as future practitioners, are important to assess when addressing this ethically complex issue.AimThe aim was to explore the attitudes among medical students at Örebro university, Sweden regarding assisted dying and their stance on the legalisation of assisted dying and to evaluate if religious beliefs, current term of study, gender, and a shift of legal framing would affect medical students´ attitudes.MethodsA cross-sectional online-based anonymous survey containing eight different patient scenarios was distributed to all medical students enlisted at Örebro university Sweden (n=657). Association between demographics and positive attitudes towards AD was tested using logistic regression, and McNemar for difference of proportion in attitudes between various scenario framings.ResultsThirty five percent (n=229) of the medical students responded with completed questionnaires. Sixty percent of the respondents believed PAS for terminally ill patients should be legalized in Sweden. Shifting of legal framing resulted in statistically significant differences of position in all eight scenarios (p<0.05). Strong religious beliefs were associated with decreased likelihood for positive attitudes towards AD in scenario 1-6 (p<0.05).ConclusionsMost respondents in this study believed PAS should be legalised. Held attitudes toward AD were affected by religious beliefs and legal framework. Additional studies to further explore medical students´ attitudes are deemed necessary.

Introduktion: Trots mycket forskning inom cancer som genererar nya riktlinjer och behandlingsmetoder är ett cancerbesked ofta förknippat med döden. Om cancerns påverkan på kroppen är tillräckligt allvarlig kan inte längre behandling tillgås. Med det övergår individens vård till palliativ vård, vilket betyder symtomlindring, närståendestöd samt kommunikation för att nå en god och värdig död. Sjuksköterskor har rapporterat att de mottagit önskan om dödshjälp av cancerpatienter, i syfte att bestämma själv och avsluta lidandet.  Syfte: Syftet var att undersöka terminala cancerpatienters syn på en god och värdig död samt dödshjälp. Metod: En systematisk litteraturöversikt utfördes med innehåll från tolv kvalitativa originalartiklar. För att få fram artiklar användes PubMed. En tematisk analys användes för att sammanställa teman baserat på studiernas resultat.  Resultat: Deltagare för dödshjälp motiverade sin ståndpunkt med hänvisning till individens autonomi, samt såg det som en möjlighet att få slut på lidande. Deltagare mot dödshjälp ansåg att det var likvärdigt med självmord, risk för bruk i fel syfte, ej överensstämmer med individens tro och att det alltid fanns hopp och mening. Synen på en god död och värdig död delgavs av deltagarna till förberedelser och rätten att få bestämma själv, att finna nya perspektiv och uppnå acceptans för sitt tillstånd. För att nå en god och värdig död behövdes stöd från anhöriga och vårdpersonal. Det ansågs att sjuksköterskan behövde ha en tät dialog med patienten och involverade patienten i beslut för att tillgodose autonomin.  Slutsats: För att en god och värdig död ska tillgodoses krävs det att vårdpersonal tillsammans med anhöriga strävar efter att uppfylla autonomin hos cancerpatienter. / Introduction: Although cancer research has given new methods and treatment guidelines, a cancer diagnosis is still often associated with death. If the impact of the cancer is too major, treatment is no longer an option. With that the treatment transitions to palliative care, focusing on relief of symptoms, support for related and communication working towards a good death. Nurses have reported that they have received a request from cancer patients to obtain euthanasia or physician-assisted suicide (PAS).  Purpose: The purpose of this systematic literature review was to investigate the views of terminal cancer patients regarding a good death as well as euthanasia and PAS.  Method: A literature review has been constructed from twelve qualitative original articles. The search for articles were found using the database - PubMed. A thematic analysis was used to identify themes, based on the studies results.  Result: These generated three central themes; Support for euthanasia and PAS, Opposition towards euthanasia and PAS and lastly A good death with under themes. Participants who supported euthanasia and PAS motivated it with a person's right to decide and a possibility to end suffering. Participants opposed towards euthanasia and PAS viewed it as an act equal to suicide, and saw a risk of it being abused, some also believed euthanasia and PAS to go against their beliefs and that there always is hope and meaning. The participants' view of a good death was preparedness, the right to decide by themselves, finding new perspectives and acceptance for their condition. To reach a good death support from related and healthcare workers, as well as frequent dialogs with the nurse to involve the patient in decisions to cater to their autonomy was of great importance. Conclusion: To reach a good death the autonomy of cancer patients need to be respected by healthcare workers and relatives.

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Bakgrund: Eutanasi är ett ämne som är väl omdebatterat i världen och betyder egentligen hjälp till en smärtfri död, men används idag som synonym till dödshjälp. Aktiv dödshjälp innebär att läkaren förskriver ett läkemedel med syfte att avsluta en patients liv. Läkarassisterat självmord innebär att patienten själv tar läkemedlet medan aktiv dödshjälp innebär att sjukvården hjälper till att avsluta patientens liv. Syfte: Syftet var att beskriva sjuksköterskors inställning till eutanasi och de faktorer som beskrivs ligga bakom dessa inställningar, samt att beskriva undersökningsgrupperna i de valda artiklarna. Metod: Författarna gjorde en deskriptiv litteraturstudie. Artiklar har sökts fram i sökmotorn PubMed med en femårsbegränsning. Totalt 11 artiklar bearbetades och sammanställdes i kategorier för att besvara frågeställningarna. Resultat: Resultatet visade att sjuksköterskors inställning till eutanasi är en komplex fråga som kan vara beroende av olika faktorer som vilket land de arbetar i och vilka patientgrupper de arbetar med. Majoriteten av deltagarna i studierna var kvinnor i olika åldrar med olika lång arbetslivserfarenhet som sjuksköterska. Resultatet i föreliggande litteraturstudie presenteras utifrån tre huvudrubriker med utgångspunkt i frågeställningarna; Sjuksköterskors inställning till eutanasi, Bidragande faktorer till sjuksköterskornas inställning till eutanasi, samt den metodologiska aspekten undersökningsgrupper. Slutsats: Föreliggande litteraturstudie visar att sjuksköterskors inställning till eutanasi kan vara högst individuell och beroende av många faktorer. Att man som sjuksköterska kan komma i kontakt med dessa frågor är ett faktum, oavsett var och med vilka patienter man arbetar. Med mer erfarenhet och kunskap om ämnet kan sjuksköterskan känna sig tryggare i bemötandet med den döende patienten och dennes anhöriga. / Background: Euthanasia is a well-discussed subject all around the world and means help to a painless death. Active euthanasia means that a doctor prescribes a drug intended to end a patients’ life. Physician-assisted suicide means that the patient takes the drug themselves, while active euthanasia involves medical help to end the patient’s life. Aim: The aim of this study was to describe nurses’ attitudes towards euthanasia and the factors described underlie these attitudes, as well as to describe the study groups in the included articles. Method: The authors conducted a descriptive literature review. The articles were found in the search engine PubMed with a five-year limit. A total of 11 articles were processed and summarized into categories to answer the research questions. Findings: The results showed that nurses' attitudes towards euthanasia is a complex issue which may be dependent on several factors such as which country they work in and which patient groups they work with. Most participants in the studies were women of different age and different experience as a nurse. The result of the present literature review form three main headings, based on the issues; nurses' attitudes towards euthanasia, contributing factors to the nurses' attitudes towards euthanasia, as well as the methodological aspect - study groups. Conclusion: The present literature review shows that nurses' attitudes towards euthanasia can be very individual and depend on many factors. It is a fact that nurses may come in contact with these issues, no matter where and with what kind of patients they work. With more experience and knowledge of the subject, the nurse may feel safer in facing the dying patients and their relatives.

Given the unprecedented medical progress combined with longer life expectancies, the right to die has become one of the main contemporary social issues. The objective of the thesis titled "The Right to Die in Light of European System of Protection of Human Rights" is to present conclusions in following matters: inclusion of the right to die in European human rights system and addressing the right to die before the European Court on Human Rights. Though the right to die can take on many forms, two basic categories of such are euthanasia and assisted suicide on one hand and withdrawal of treatment on the other. First of all, the thesis is concerned with characteristics of individual forms of the right to die. It focuses primarily on the difference between those two categories i.e. the intention of the action, for such distinction forms the basis of the European system of protection of the right to die as well as ECHR case-law. The right to die is provided for by the European human rights system to some extent. The thesis therefore focuses on the most important European acts pertinent to this area. Neither European Convention on Human Rights nor Convention on Human Rights and Biomedicine establishes the right to die explicitly, yet several forms can be derived by interpreting them. Conversely, the...

This study was conducted using a qualitative descriptive approach. It was based on an analysis that was done to determine awareness and attitude of patients in end of life issues. The semi-structured interviews were conducted for data collection. A sample of ten patients, five inpatient and five outpatient, was purposively chosen. Permission was obtained from the hospital superintendent and heads of departments, and also consent from patients, for the study. Data was analyzed, using the NVIVO program, a computer software, for data coding, and a conceptual model for categorization. From the findings, the researcher concluded that poor communication causes lack of knowledge in patients, which in turn limits the capacity for decision making in patients. The researcher also noted that participants were not aware of their autonomy in decision-making. / Thesis (M.Cur.)-University of Natal, Durban, 2002.

The diploma thesis titled Euthanasia in the film an analysis of selected pieces, is divided into theoretical and practical parts. I devoted to a description of a current state of euthanasia in the theoretical part. First I focused on definitions of euthanasia, assisted suicide etc. A chapter is also devoted to a history of euthanasia. I wanted to highlight the fact, that euthanasia is not only a problem of the modern society, but beginnings of a discussion about euthanasia we could find already in the ancient world. Through the concept of euthanasia in the Middle Ages and modern times I got up to the World War II, which is in my opinion an important milestone in the history of euthanasia, because at that time euthanasia was perceived as a tool for a disposal of persons who, in the context of its time, seemed to be undesirable. Among such people there were classified for example people so called racially unsuitable, weak and sick. Because there are legally different views of euthanasia, in chapters I mention the fact how euthanasia is perceived in the world. In terms of acceptance of euthanasia and assisted suicide I particularly emphasize the Netherlands and Switzerland. One chapter I also dedicate to euthanasia in the Czech Republic. It includes a description of the discussion and arguments for and against euthanasia. One more separate chapter I devoted to questions whether to legalize or not to legalize euthanasia. I found out that a discussion on this topic is very extensive and here could be applied the rule that each man has his own opinion. It turned out that even experts in one area, doctors of philosophers, are not unanimous in the issue of euthanasia and its pros and cons are from both sides argued with plenty of arguments that are worth thinking about. A separate chapter I devoted to a man, who I consider to be the main promoter of euthanasia and assisted suicide and if you pronounce his name, people would link him with that theme. This is Dr. Jack Kevorkian, nicknamed Dr. Death. Jack Kevorkian, who understood his acts as medical services for terminally ill people, helped with the voluntary termination of life to several hundred of people. Although he had written certain "rules" about the situations when he can people "help" to solve their suffering and pain, it turned out that those people in many cases had no anatomical evidence of disease in their body. Jack Kevorkian has had and even currently has many supporters and opponents. In case of Jack Kevorkian there are arguments for and against euthanasia as in the whole debate about it. The aim of the study was to analyse how the topic of euthanasia has been reflected in the film production. At the beginning of the research I have asked this research question: Which are usual attitudes to euthanasia reflected in filmmaking? In order to find out the given objective and to answer the research question I chose a qualitative research based on the method of disinterested observation of six selected movie titles. Titles in their alphabetical order were following: Doktor smrt (You Don´t Know Jack, USA, 2010, 134 min), Hlas moře (Mar adentro, Španělsko/Francie/Itálie, 2004, 125 min), Hodinu nevíš, Česko, 2009, 94 min), Invaze barbarů (Invasion barbares, Kanada/Fancie, 2003, 99 min), Millon Dollar Baby, (USA, 2004, 132 min) a Skafandr a motýl (Le Scaphandre et le papillon, Francie/USA, 2007, 107 min).

Bakgrund: Dödshjälp är ett debatterat ämne som berör sjuksköterskans arbetsuppgifter. Flera länder och stater har legaliserat dödshjälp. Dödshjälp kan ses som ett sätt att respektera patientens önskemål, att lindra lidande och bevara värdighet. Det kan även ställas mot vårdpersonalens egen autonomi eller ICN:s etiska kod som menar att sjukvårdens uppgift är att lindra och bota sjukdom och inte skada patienten. Vårdpersonal beskriver svårigheter i att hantera situationer där dessa komponenter på olika sätt ställs emot varandra. Syfte: Syftet var att belysa sjuksköterskans erfarenheter upplevelser och faktorer som kan påverka upplevelser av att arbeta med personer som önskar eller kommer att genomgå dödshjälp. Metod: En litteraturöversikt i enlighet med Friberg genomfördes. Resultatet byggde på tio originalartiklar som togs fram genom systematisk sökning. Analysen genomfördes genom tematisering och färgkodning.   Resultat: Arbetet med dödshjälp upplevdes olika beroende på vilken typ av dödshjälp som genomfördes, patientens och anhörigas upplevelser, deltagandet i beslutsfattandet, etiska koder och lagar som gällde samt sjuksköterskornas egna värderingar och erfarenheter. Detta ledde till både positiva och negativa upplevelser för sjuksköterskan. Dessa upplevelser kunde också hanteras genom formellt eller informellt stöd, vilket i sin tur bidrog till sjuksköterskans upplevelser. Diskussion: Resultatet diskuteras utefter Travelbees teori om den mellanmänskliga relationen och hur vårdandet utan roller kan bidra till en bättre vård, men även påverka sjuksköterskans upplevelser av vården. Dessutom diskuteras om hur sjuksköterskans egna värderingar och erfarenheter påverkar upplevelserna i vården. / Background: Euthanasia is a debated subject that concerns nurses’ duties. Several countries and states have legalized euthanasia. Euthanasia can be seen as a way of respecting patients wishes, relieving suffering and preserving dignity. However, it can also be considered against healthcare personnels own autonomy or ICN ethical code, which means that the health care task is to alleviate and cure and not harm the patient. Healthcare professionals describe difficulties in dealing with situations where these components differ in a variety of ways. Aim: The aim of the study was to highlight nurses’ experiences and factors that may affect experiences of working with people who want or will undergo euthanasia.  Method: A literature review according to Friberg was conducted. The result is based on ten original articles that were obtained through systematic search. The analysis was conducted by thematization and color-coding. Results: Workning with assistens in death was experienced differently depending on the type of euthanasia that was carried out, the experiences of patients and relatives, participation in decision making, ethical codes and laws, as well as nurses’ own values and experiences. This led to both positive and negative experiences for the nurse. These experiences could also be managed through formal or informal support, which in turn contributed to nurses’ experiences. Discussion: The discussion is based on Travelbees theory of interpersonal relationships and how care without rolls can contribute to better care, but also affect nurses’ experiences of care. In addition, there is discussion about how nurses own values ​​and understandings affect experiences in health care.

Résumé Euthanasia is and always will be a hot topic of very heated debate among both non specialists and experts. The purpose of my thesis is to provide the reader with information about euthanasia and a list of rules dealing with the issue of euthanasia in selected countries. The introduction outlines the problems of euthanasia. The second chapter is devoted to clarifying the content of the notion of euthanasia, which comes from the Greek word for the phrase, "eu" meaning good and "thanatos" meaning death, a "good death", sometimes we can also meet the looser translation of euthanasia as a beautiful death. The content of the notion of euthanasia in the course of history changed. Today we see euthanasia as an act which one person intentionally ends the life of another person's own request with the intent to end her suffering. In the chapter are identified and defined forms of euthanasia, especially active and passive. The third chapter deals with the European Union's attitude to euthanasia. No law of the European Union explicitly addressed the euthanasia. Health policy in principle falls within the competence of national governments. And every Member State has its own position on the issue of euthanasia. In this chapter, I mention the idea and recommendations of the Council of Europe, though it isn't the...