Palliative care and requests for assistance in dying

Résumé

The concept of palliative care, as described by the World Health Organization, is in direct conflict with the idea of deliberately hastening a person's death through the practice of assisted dying. Indeed, palliative care "intends neither to hasten nor postpone death." Yet patients may be fearful of the extreme discomfort they anticipate as death approaches, or they may simply want some certainty as to the timing or circumstances of death. Nurses who care for patients with life-limiting disease encounter patient and family questions, concerns, and requests for assisted dying. Receiving such a request can represent a morally troubling dilemma in which there is uncertainty about how best to respond. The purpose of this chapter is to review the ethical and legal status of assisted dying, summarize empirical findings regarding both professional and lay opinions and experiences with assisted dying, and offer guidelines for responding to requests for assisted dying. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved) SUICIDE-ASSISTÉ SOIN-PALLIATIF JURIDIQUE ÉTHIQUE