Survey of final years nursing student's attitude regards euthanasia in 2013

Nursing student's attitudes concerning euthanasia may affect their future performance. The present study was conducted with the aim of investigating the attitudes of nurse practitioner students in relation to euthanasia. Method and Material: 80 nurse practitioner students studying in Islamic Azad University of Shahrekord Branch in 1392 constituted the descriptive-analytical type of this study and the data relating to their attitude have been collected using Euthanasia Attitude Scale (EAS). The 20-point scale has been classified in four dimensions including "moral considerations, practical considerations, honoring the life and naturalistic beliefs". The data were statistically analyzed in the SPSS 15 statistical software using descriptive statistics (mean ± SD) and the chi-square test, Pearson correlation, independent t-test and ANOVA. Results showed that the score of subject's attitudes toward euthanasia was 0/54±2/92 (within a score range of 5-1), and totally of 47.5 percent (38 persons) had negative attitude towards euthanasia,3.8 percent (3%) had neutral attitude and 8/48 percent (n = 39) had positive attitude. Moreover, among the studied demographic variables, only age had a statistically significant association with it, to the extent that the student’s positive attitudes toward euthanasia increased as they got older (P <0/035, r =0/236). The results of this study suggest that many nursing senior students in Iran lack a positive attitude towards euthanasia (51/3%). However, the number of people supporting this phenomenon is not small (48/8%), so that, the officials and staff of nursing education programs should focus more attention to this issue.