Purpose The Group Presentation is the final of the three assignments in this course. It builds upon and utilizes information gathered and reported in the first two assignments. The purpose of this ass
Topic Search Strategy Paper: Ethics of Euthanasia
Name
University
NR449Evidence-Based Practice
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Date
Deliberately taking an individual's life to ease their misery, otherwise called killing, is a profoundly petulant subject with moral consequences that length medical services and society. Physician-assisted euthanasia in adult patients in the last stages of their illness remains a contentious issue (Greonewoud et al., 2022). The individuals who support it contend that it is a humane method for lightning enduring. In contrast, the people who go against it argue that it is against clinical morals and the holiness of life.
Clinical Question
The group's work focuses on the topic "Ethics of Euthanasia." Specifically, the group will focus on how euthanasia is applied among terminally ill patients and the resulting implications when it is physician-assisted. In addition, there will also be a comparison between palliative care and euthanasia; palliative care revolves around providing specialized care to those suffering from severe illnesses and who may qualify for euthanasia. From this perspective, the group will explore how these factors relate to the ethics of patient autonomy, suffering, and the toll it takes on practitioners and the patient's family.
The topic of euthanasia has significance because it directly relates to patient well-being. Research indicates that terminal illnesses such as cancer mean pain is a constant reality for patients. Notably, Mallah et al. (2019) suggest that about 77% of cancer patients report moderate to serve pain, with about 65% receiving adequate pain management. In another research by Hagarty et al. (2020), severe pain is a source of fear for terminally ill patients experiencing end-of-life care. Therefore, serious ethical questions are raised on whether physician-assisted euthanasia is appropriate in these causes of serve patient discomfort.
The group has developed a PICOT question that will assist in exploring the topic of the ethics of euthanasia. The sections of the PICOT questions are indicated below:
P: In terminally ill adult patients
I: what are the ethical implications of physician-assisted euthanasia.
C: Comparing euthanasia to palliative care
O: In terms of patient autonomy and societal perception
The complete PICOT question is presented: "In terminally ill adult patients, what are the ethical implications of physician-assisted euthanasia compared to palliative care in terms of patient autonomy, relief of suffering, and impact on families and healthcare providers?"
The purpose of this paper is to explore scholarly evidence and provide an analysis of the ethical implications of physician-assisted euthanasia compared to palliative care. Notably, this assessment will determine the impact of these interventions regarding patient autonomy, relief of suffering, and impact on families and healthcare providers. Ultimately, the research will assist in making informed decisions concerning end-of-life care.
Levels of Evidence
Based on the PICOT question described in the section above, it can be categorized as an ethics question because it primarily concerns ethical decision-making within euthanasia. Therefore, to address the question, one needs to have a nuanced understanding of the problem and interpret the different perspectives and values around euthanasia. Moreover, it requires comparing euthanasia and palliative care to highlight the ethical distinctions between the two interventions.
The best type of research to address the question is qualitative studies. At their core, qualitative studies are about exploring real-world challenges to develop new insights. As mentioned above, the ethical nature of the research question requires a nuanced approach to finding a solution. Therefore, stringent facts and figures may not accurately capture patients' perceptions and how families and health practitioners feel affected when making end-of-life care decisions.
Search Strategy
The search terms selected were inspired by the PICOT question created in the earlier sections to allow us to identify the largest pool of relevant articles. The search terms that were primarily used when looking for articles in order of preference include; "terminally ill patients," "physician-assisted euthanasia," "palliative care," "ethical implications of euthanasia," "euthanasia and pain," and "impact of euthanasia." These are just some of the search terms deployed, but they were not used in isolation, as some were combined to get different variations of results.
The search for scholarly articles and research studies began at the CU library databases. The CU library was especially helpful as it provided access to various scholarly publications. Some databases proved useful when performing the search for studies. Some notable databases include BMC, PubMed Central, CINAHL, and PsycINFO. In addition, Google Scholar offers an easily accessible search avenue where it is easy to specify parameters and get open-access articles without barriers.
As noted above, some search terms were combined to get different results, which was a refinement strategy. In such a situation, boolean operators combine the search terms. For example, "terminally ill patients" AND "ethical implications." Another refinement strategy was using a time restriction, as only articles published within the last five years were considered.
The two articles selected are "Ethical Considerations at the end-of-life Care" by Akdeniz et al. (2021) and "Nursing and Euthanasia: A narrative review of the nursing ethics literature" by Pesut et al. (2019). The article by Akdeniz et al. (2021) is relevant because it addresses the ethical challenges of end-of-life care and the ethical principles that guide the decision, notably autonomy, beneficence, nonmaleficence, fidelity, and justice. On the other hand, the article by Pesut et al. (2019) is relevant because it highlights the ethical arguments for euthanasia and how it affects nursing practitioners.
Conclusion
Physician-assisted euthanasia is usually applied among terminally-ill patients who are in significant discomfort. Therefore, it is essential to explore the ethical implications of euthanasia and compare this with palliative care. The research question developed for this research falls in the category of ethical analysis and can best be addressed using qualitative studies. The research revolves around limiting articles to five years since publication and combining search terms using Boolean operators to find different results.
References
Akdeniz, M., Yardımcı, B., & Kavukcu, E. (2021). Ethical Considerations at the end-of-life Care. SAGE Open Medicine, 9(9). https://doi.org/10.1177/20503121211000918.
Hagarty, A. M., Bush, S. H., Talarico, R., Lapenskie, J., & Tanuseputro, P. (2020). Severe pain at the end of life: a population-level observational study. BMC Palliative Care, 19(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12904-020-00569-2.
Mallah, H., Mousa, R., Fadl, N. B., Musmar, S., Ball, S., & Nugent, K. (2019). Pain Severity and Adequacy of Pain Management in Terminally Ill Patients with Cancer: An Experience from North Palestine. Indian Journal of Palliative Care, 25(4), 494–500. https://doi.org/10.4103/IJPC.IJPC_39_19.
Pesut, B., Greig, M., Thorne, S., Storch, J., Burgess, M., Tishelman, C., Chambaere, K., & Janke, R. (2019). Nursing and euthanasia: A narrative review of the nursing ethics literature. Nursing Ethics, 27(1), 096973301984512. https://doi.org/10.1177/0969733019845127.
