Navigating medical assistance in dying from Bill C-14 to Bill C-7 : a qualitative study

Background: Even as healthcare providers and systems were settling into the processes required for Medical Assistance in Dying (MAID) under Bill C-14, new legislation was introduced (Bill C-7) that extended assisted death to persons whose natural death is not reasonably foreseeable. The purpose of this paper is to describe the experiences of nurses and nurse practitioners with the implementation and ongoing development of this transition. Methods: This qualitative longitudinal descriptive study gathered data through semi-structured telephone interviews with nurses from across Canada; cross sec... Mehr ...

Verfasser: Pesut, Barbara
Thorne, Sally
Wright, David Kenneth
Schiller, Catharine
Huggins, Madison
Puurveen, Gloria
Chambaere, Kenneth
Dokumenttyp: journalarticle
Erscheinungsdatum: 2021
Schlagwörter: Medicine and Health Sciences / PALLIATIVE CARE / EUTHANASIA / NETHERLANDS / TRENDS / Medical assistance in dying / End of life / Nursing / Qualitative / Legislation / Healthcare systems
Sprache: Englisch
Permalink: https://search.fid-benelux.de/Record/base-29197231
Datenquelle: BASE; Originalkatalog
Powered By: BASE
Link(s) : https://biblio.ugent.be/publication/8728070

Background: Even as healthcare providers and systems were settling into the processes required for Medical Assistance in Dying (MAID) under Bill C-14, new legislation was introduced (Bill C-7) that extended assisted death to persons whose natural death is not reasonably foreseeable. The purpose of this paper is to describe the experiences of nurses and nurse practitioners with the implementation and ongoing development of this transition. Methods: This qualitative longitudinal descriptive study gathered data through semi-structured telephone interviews with nurses from across Canada; cross sectional data from 2020 to 2021 is reported here. The study received ethical approval and all participants provided written consent. Findings: Participants included nurses (n = 34) and nurse practitioners (n = 16) with significant experience with MAID. Participants described how MAID had transitioned from a new, secretive, and anxiety-producing procedure to one that was increasingly visible and normalized, although this normalization did not necessarily mitigate the emotional impact. MAID was becoming more accessible, and participants were learning to trust the process. However, the work was becoming increasingly complex, labour intensive, and often poorly remunerated. Although many participants described a degree of integration between MAID and palliative care services, there remained ongoing tensions around equitable access to both. Participants described an evolving gestalt of determining persons' eligibility for MAID that required a high degree of clinical judgement. Deeming someone ineligible was intensely stressful for all involved and so participants had learned to be resourceful in avoiding this possibility. The required 10-day waiting period was difficult emotionally, particularly if persons worried about losing capacity to give final consent. The implementation of C-7 was perceived to be particularly challenging due to the nature of the population that would seek MAID and the resultant complexity of trying to ...