Nursing Student’s Opinions About Euthanasia

Aim: This study was conducted descriptively in order to determine nursing students’ knowledge and opinions about euthanasia. Material and Methods: 291 students studying at the school of nursing who agreeed to participate in the study were included, without choosing a sample for the study. A form developed by researchers based on a literature search and including questions about descriptive characteristics of students and their knowledge and attitudes towards euthanasia was used for data collection. Data was analyzed with mean scores and percentages. Results: As a result of the analysis, mean age of the students included in the study was 20.09±1.45. Of the students, 68.7% reported that they had knowledge about euthanasia during their school education. Of the students, 58.8% reported that they did not want the practice of euthanasia for suffering terminally ill, 75.3% of them did not want the practice of euthanasia for first-degree relative, 60.5% did not want euthanasia to be legalized and 58.8% thought that euthanasia should be administered for the patients who had actual brain death. Conclusion: It was concluded that nursing students had information related to euthanasia and most of them did not want the practice and legalization of euthanasia and participation of nurses in euthanasia practice.