Do Belgian paediatric nurses really want to be able to euthanase children with terminal illnesses? A recent article in the American Journal of Critical Care based on a survey of 141 nurses suggests that this is the case. Euthanasia for children is illegal in Belgium. But euthanasia for adults is not, although only a doctor can carry it out. What the survey found is that "a large majority of those nurses support a change in the law on euthanasia that would make life termination in children possible" and that they should be involved in the decision-making process. Otherwise they would experience "moral distress" at having to carry out someone else's instructions.
However, when the article is examined more carefully, the conclusions may not be warranted. The survey found that 85% of nurses had participated in an "end-of-life" decision within the past two years. But the vast majority of these end-of-life decisions involved non-treatment or alleviation of pain. Only 19% involved "use of life-ending drugs".
Nonetheless, the survey will fuel fears that doctors and nurses are actively euthanasing sick children. According to the survey, "Only 6% of nurses found it always ethically wrong to hasten the death of a child by administering lethal drugs; most nurses (78%) reported they were prepared to cooperate in administering life-ending drugs in some cases." BioEdge
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