PALLIATIVE CARE NURSES

Article Critique: Palliative Care Nurses

Article critique: Palliative Care Nurses

Introduction

In this article survey paper, the research article about “Palliative Care Nurses' Views on Euthanasia” by Verpoort et al (2004) is inquiring "what are the views of palliative care nurses about euthanasia"? "It is essential to know how nurses, who are confronted with terminally ill patient everyday, think about it" (Verpoort et al, 2004, p. 592). Verpoort et al have taken the stance that “nurses are scarcely heard in debates on the legalization of euthanasia in Belgium”, and that nurses "are in a position to offer valuable ideas about this problem" (Verpoort et al, 2004, p. 592). Verpoort et al (2004, p. 592) state, "the views of these nurses are important because of their palliative expertise and their daily confrontation with dying patients".

Would it say that the question is stated broadly enough for a qualitative study? This research question is appropriately broad enough for a qualitative study, allowing for a variety of concept interpretations.

Variables

What are the independent and dependent study variables? The dependent variable in Verpoort et al's (2004) "Palliative Care Nurses' Views on Euthanasia", is the view that the palliative care nurse towards euthanasia. The independent variables are the details of the patient situation including the patient's degree off suffering and available palliative options.

Study Design

What qualitative design was used? A grounded theory approach was used in this qualitative research design to better understand the views of palliative care nurses on euthanasia. In this article, face-to-face interviews were used involving an interview guide. The data was grouped into concepts according to significant passages, then the concepts were grouped into categories for continuous comparison, then the data was ordered through connections between categories and sub-categories. This process of analyzing data makes this process very easy to understand.

Setting and Sample

In what way is the method of obtaining subjects appropriate? Nurses were purposefully recruited from a palliative care unit, a palliative support team in a hospital and a palliative homecare team in Flanders to obtain a comprehensive and reliable picture of palliative care nurses' views on euthanasia (Verpoort et al, 2004). Participants of this study had to have worked at least one year in palliative care and be willing to share their views on the issue. Personal details of sample participants included age, gender, religious belief, work experience, nursing qualification and job function to create a heterogeneous sample. Person triangulation was attempted by ...