Journal of advanced nursing
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While surveys of Australian nurses' attitudes to active voluntary euthanasia (AVE) have found that the majority are in favour, there may be important differences between subgroups of nurses. This paper investigates the role of the following nurse characteristics on nurses' attitudes to AVE: age, gender, religion, amount of contact with terminally ill patients, area of specialty, and degree of interest taken in the issue of AVE. A postal survey on AVE was carried out in late 1996 of 2000 randomly selected registered nurses from the Australian Capital Territory. ⋯ Palliative care nurses were the only subgroup without a majority in favour (33%). There is other evidence in the euthanasia literature, that nurses and doctors are less in favour of AVE than the general public. Taken together with the present findings, it can be concluded that attitudes towards AVE are more favourable in people who have less contact with the terminally ill.
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Historical Article
Analgesia and anaesthesia in childbirth: obscurantism and obfuscation.
The terms 'analgesia' and 'anaesthesia' have been defined by emphasizing differing aspects of their effects. The distinction between these interventions has not been clarified by their definitions. ⋯ This lack of clarity is apparent in the introduction of chloroform in childbirth, which has much in common with the introduction and effects of epidural analgesia. The reasons for and benefits of this lack of clarity are examined.