What is it about?
This article written by a nurse with a law degree and long experience of caring for older people and people with dementia, looks the question of how new assisted dying laws proposed in 2024/5 in the UK will affect the practice of nurses who look after patients at the end of life.
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Why is it important?
This work is written against a background where it is claimed that most people support the idea of assisted suicide and professional bodies are "neutral". It highlights how the situations that people most fear may not be prevented by the draft laws. It also highlights the safeguards and powers that people have already, which they do not use, and which, if used, would solve the situations that people most fear. So it questions the need for new legislation because the legislation carries risks, without guaranteed benefits.
Perspectives
As a nurse with decades of experience, I understand why some people are attracted to the idea of assisted suicide, but I have concerns that the laws are being drafted without reference to any research in this area. Instead it is based on anecdotes, and emotion, and without more time to discuss, it might open up a pandora's box that releases as many negative as positive outcomes.
June Andrews
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Assisted dying legislation: challenges and considerations for community nurses, British Journal of Community Nursing, January 2025, Mark Allen Group,
DOI: 10.12968/bjcn.2024.0160.
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