In face-to-face interviews, eight nurses from Ontario revealed that nurses wishing to exercise conscientious objection deemed ethically justifiable in the light of certain health care procedures, have no backing and require protection from their health care establishments.
The authors of the study published in the Journal of Advanced Nursing noted that health practices were becoming increasingly complex from an ethical standpoint and nurses needed to address conscience issues for treatments they consider ethically questionable. For the Canadian nurses, this need has gained impetus since the legalisation of euthanasia: “The euthanasia situation in Canada calls for the freedom of conscience of nurses and health care professionals to be monitored”, explained Dr Christine Lamb, the main author of the study. She goes on to say that it is “important for conscience and conscientious objection to be discussed within current health care practices”.
News Medical (17/10/2018)