Euthanasia in Greece: Greek nurses' involvement and beliefs

Euthanasia has become a prominent social and ethical issue in which nurses play an important role. This study evaluated, for the first time in Greece, the acceptance and enactment of passive euthanasia among Greek nursing staff, measured in relation to the type of patients cared for. Passive euthanasia, illegal in Greece, is defined as either withdrawing or withholding life-sustaining treatment. Fifty-one per cent responded that they would not be willing to withhold life-sustaining treatment if legalized, while almost 30% responded that they had withheld life-sustaining treatment from a patient at least once in the past; specifically 47.7% of intensive care unit nurses (OR 8.2; 95% CI: 1.6-41.3), 20% of cancer ward nurses (OR 2.7; 95% CI: 0.5-15.6) and 8.3% of other nurses from other wards (P = 0.001). Age, gender and self-reported levels of religiosity among Greek nurses were not found to affect statistically any variable regarding euthanasia and its enactment.