Understanding and attitude towards euthanasia in Europe

Uvod: Procesi evtanazije so se pojavili že zelo zgodaj. Beseda evtanazija ima grške korenine in v dobesednem prevodu pomeni lahko oziroma dobro smrt. Namen evtanazije je olajšati trpljenje umirajočega ali neozdravljivo bolnega človeka na tak način. Posledica evtanazije je, da umirajoči ali neozdravljivo bolni predčasno umre. Namen: Namen diplomskega dela je ugotoviti, kakšno je trenutno stanje na področju ureditve evtanazije v nekaterih državah Evropske unije in kako vpliva evtanazija na procese zdravstvene nege. Metode: Za izdelavo diplomskega dela smo uporabili deskriptivno metodo ter poiskali domačo in tujo literaturo. Podatkovne baze iz katerih smo črpali teoretična izhodišča so: CINAHL, ScienceDirect, COBISS.SI in Medline/Pubmed. V analizo smo vključili 32 člankov. Rezultati: Nizozemska, Belgija in Francija so države, ki smo jih vključili v raziskavo in imajo metodo evtanazije zakonsko urejeno. V raziskavo pa so bile vključene tudi Velika Britanija, Švica in Slovenija, za katere pa smo ugotovili, da evtanazije nimajo zakonsko uveljavljene. Države se v ureditvi evtanazije precej razlikujejo med seboj. V treh državah, kjer je evtanazija uzakonjena ima glavno besedo zdravnik. Medicinska sestra je v proces odločanja glede postopkov evtanazije vključena le v Belgiji. Glede na trenutno ureditev evtanazije v proučevanih državah ocenjujemo, da je trenutna usposobljenost medicinskih sester za izvajanje zdravstvene nege v zvezi z evtanazijo pomanjkljiva in medicinske sestre bi na tem področju potrebovale več znanja. Predvsem gre za znanje na področju premagovanja stresa v stresnih situacijah. Razprava in zaključek: Z raziskavo smo ugotovili, da imajo uveljavljeno pravico do evtanazije na Nizozemskem in v Belgiji. Opaziti je mogoče, kako se mnenja avtorjev tako pri nas, kot po svetu razlikujejo, ko nastopi govor o evtanaziji. Ob koncu bolnikovega življenja imajo pomembno vlogo tudi medicinske sestre in na podlagi ugotovitev lahko zaključimo, da proces evtanazije od medicinskih sester ne zahteva dodatnega znanja oziroma posebne specifične usposobljenosti ali veščin, ki bi dopolnjevale njihovo znanje in usposobljenost za izvajanje zdravstvene nege. Potrebujejo pa dodatna usposabljanja, kako stati ob strani pacientom in njihovim svojcem ob teh zelo zahtevnih trenutkih.Introduction: Euthanasia appeared very early. The word euthanasia itself originally comes from Greece and it literally means good death. The purpose of euthanasia is to alleviate the suffering of a dying or terminally ill person in such a way that the dying or terminaly ill person dies prematurely. Purpose: The main purpose of the thesis is to review the literature to determine the situation in the field of euthanasia in Europe and see how euthanasia affects the process of nursing or what knowledge and skills euthanasia requires from nurses. Methods: To make the thesis we obtained basic theoretical starting points with a descriptive method and searched for domestic and foreign literature. The databases from which we drew the theoretical starting points are: CINAHL, ScienceDirect, COBISS.SI and Medline/Pubmed. We included 32 articles. Results: The Netherlands, Belgium and France are countries we included in the study that have euthanasia method regulated by the law. Great Britain, Switzerland and Slovenia were also included in the study but we found that euthanasia is not legally established. Countries differ considerably in the regulation of euthanasia. In the three countries where euthanasia is legal the doctor has the main word. Nurses are only involved in the desicion making process regarding euthanasia procedures in Belgium. Given the current regulation of euthanasia in the studied countries we estimate that the current training of nurses to perform nursing in relation to euthanasia is deficient and nurses would need more knowledge in this area. Above all it is about knowledge in the field of overcoming stress in stressfull situations. Discussion and conclusion: Based on the results of the research, we found that they have an established right to euthanasia in the Netherlands and Belgium. It is easy to see how the opinions of authors differ both here and around the world when it comes to euthanasia procedures. At the end of a patient\u27s life nurses also play an important role and based on findings we can conclude that the process of euthanasia does not require nurses additional knowledge or special specific skills or competencies that would complement their knowledge and skills to perform nursing. Howewer they need additional training on how to stand by patients and their relatives during these very difficult moments