Nurses' Perceptions and Attitudes towards Euthanasia

안락사에 대한 간호사의 인식 및 태도에 관한 연구

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate nurses' perceptions and attitudes towards euthanasia. Method: The subject consisted of 345 nurses from the four general hospitals above 500 beds. Measurement tools were the Ryu's perceptions towards euthanasia, and Park's attitudes toward euthanasia. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, t-test, and ANOVA by using SPSS WIN 10.0 program. Results: The approval rate of passive euthanasia was 62.6%. Main reason of approval for the passive euthanasia was that euthanasia was "act of mercy". On the other hand, main reason of opposition was that "life is invaluable". 81.2% of subjects responded saying that they would ask for passive euthanasia. The approval rate of active euthanasia was 15.7%. 54.8% of subjects responded saying that they will not ask for active euthanasia. General characteristics significantly related to attitudes to euthanasia were the units, nursing degree, and meaning of euthanasia. The mean score for attitudes to euthanasia was 2.36 and it was negative attitudes. Conclusion: Man has the right to live within his life with dignity. What is most important here seems to be the legalization of euthanasia which still remains unresolved.