RT Journal Article
T1 Nursing students' perceptions of euthanasia legislation: A qualitative study
A1 Ortega Galán, Ángela María
A1 Ruiz Fernández, María Dolores
A1 Alcaraz Córdoba, Andrea
A1 Gómez Beltrán, Piedras Alba
A1 Díaz Morales, David
A1 Ortiz Amo, Rocío
AB Background: Spain passed a law to legalise euthanasia in March 2021. This law introduces a new right that is incorporated into the portfolio of services provided by the Spanish public health system, meaning that nurses and nursing students will play a key role in its administration. Objectives: To determine and understand nursing students' perceptions of the legalisation of euthanasia and thelife experiences involved in their positions. Design: This is a descriptive qualitative study. Settings and participants: Thirteen semi-structured, open-ended, focused interviews were conducted with undergraduate nursing students at two faculties in south-eastern Spain. The Atlas ti.9.0 programme was used to analyse their discourses. Results: There are students who are in favour of euthanasia and those who are against it. Most students viewed the regulation of conscientious objection as positive and necessary. Students reported that they did not have indepth knowledge of the law, and those who were familiar with it expressed some misgivings. Students also felt that there was a lack of information and training on the management of euthanasia. Conclusions: The students described the legalisation of euthanasia as a breakthrough in Spanish public health which will benefit many patients. However, they were aware that they are not capable of facing new legal situation and demanded extra training in ethical conflicts at the end of life to avoid potential psychologicalsequelae. Nursing faculties should include in their curricula spaces to encourage moral deliberation in complex settings involving the implementation of euthanasia.
PB Elsevier
SN 0260-6917
YR 2022
FD 2022
LK https://hdl.handle.net/10272/21985
UL https://hdl.handle.net/10272/21985
LA eng
NO Ortega-Galán, Á. M., Ruiz-Fernández, M. D., Alcaraz-Córdoba, A., Gómez-Beltrán, P. A., Díaz-Morales, D., & Ortiz-Amo, R. (2022). Nursing students' perceptions of euthanasia legislation: A qualitative study. In Nurse Education Today (Vol. 116, p. 105466). Elsevier BV. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nedt.2022.105466
DS Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad de Huelva
RD 1 jun 2026