TABLE 1.
Characteristics of the primary studies included in the analysis
| Author (citation year) | Title | Phenomenon of interest | Country | Context | Methodology / theoretical framework (data collection) | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bellens et al. (2020) | ‘It is still intense and not unambiguous’. Nurses' experiences in the euthanasia care process 15 years after legalization | Nurses' experiences | Belgium | Hospitals (n = 20) or in home care (n = 8); geographically spread over Flanders | Grounded theory / semi‐structured in‐depth interviews | Nurses (n = 28), of which were employed in: hospital (n = 11), 8 home care (n = 8), bedside nurses (n = 16). Nurses were involved in the care of patients requesting euthanasia at least 5 times (n = 17), having had experience with euthanasia in the last 6 months (n = 16) |
| Beuthin et al. (2018) | Medical assistance in dying (MAiD): Canadian nurses' experiences | Nurses' experiences | Canada | Urban and rural areas across Vancouver Island, British Columbia, working across settings including acute care, residential care, primary care clinics and community and palliative care | Narrative inquiry and thematic analysis / semi‐structured interviews conducted in person or by phone | Registered nurses (n = 15), Nurse Practitioner (n = 1) and Licensed Practical Nurse (n = 1) |
| Beuthin (2018) | Cultivating compassion: The practice experience of a Medical Assistance in Dying coordinator in Canada | Reflections on personal experience leading a team conducting MAiD | Canada | MAiD coordinating facility | Narrative (auto)ethnography | Coordinating nurse (n = 1) |
| Bruce and Beuthin (2020) | Medically Assisted Dying in Canada: ‘Beautiful Death’ is transforming nurses' experiences of suffering | Nurses' experiences of suffering | Canada | Diverse settings including acute care, community–home care and specialty areas including emergency room and palliative care | Narrative inquiry / semi‐structured interviews | Registered nurses (n = 15), Nurse Practitioner (n = 1) and Licensed Practical Nurse (n = 1) |
| Lemiengre et al. (2010) | Impact of written ethics policy on euthanasia from the perspective of physicians and nurses: A multiple case study in hospitals | Impact of policy on euthanasia | Belgium | Participants were from hospitals (n = 3) selected based on the (1) availability of an ethical infrastructure, (2) development of a euthanasia policy, (3) format and content of the policy and (4) communication and accessibility of the policy | Grounded theory / in‐depth interviews | Physicians (n = 11, excluded) and palliative care specialist nurses (n = 12) |
| Impact of Medical Assistance in Dying on palliative care: A qualitative study | Experiences of palliative care providers | Canada | Inpatient consult services, inpatient palliative care units, outpatient clinics, home‐based palliative care and residential hospices. Several participants worked in more than one setting | Qualitative descriptive using thematic analysis / semi‐structured interviews | 23 Palliative care providers from which nurses (n = 10) were identified | |
| Pesut et al. (2020) | The rocks and hard places of MAiD: a qualitative study of nursing practice in the context of legislated assisted death | Nurses' experiences and practice | Canada |
Home and community (n = 32; 54%), acute care (n = 10; 17%), LTC (n = 5; 9%), hospice (n = 4; 7%), clinic (n = 3; 5%) and other (n = 5; 9%) |
Qualitative using interpretive description / semi‐structured interviews | Registered Nurse (n = 43; 73%), Nurse Practitioner (n = 13; 22%), Clinical Nurse Specialist (n = 3; 5%) |
| Rys et al. (2015) | Bridging the gap between continuous sedation until death and physician‐assisted death: A focus group study in nursing homes in Flanders, Belgium | Nurses' perceptions | Belgium | Nursing homes | Not reported / focus group using semi‐structured interviews | 48 clinicians, from whom nurses (n = 24) were identified (Coordinating nurses n = 4, head nurses n = 7 and nurses n = 13) |