Addressing Patients' End-of-Life Needs: The Role of the Oncology Nurse

The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore oncology nurses’ experiences of requests for assisted dying from patients with cancer at the end stage of disease. Nurses who identified themselves as direct care providers or clinical nurse specialist members of the Oncology Nursing Society were asked to submit a written account or story of receiving a request for assistance in dying from a patient with advanced cancer with a limited life expectancy. Forty oncology nurses submitted 48 stories that were analyzed using Denzin’s process of interpretive interactionism. The majority of the participants were master’s prepared females with a mean age of 45 and a mean of 14 years in oncology. Four main themes and 11 subthemes emerged from the data analysis of the 48 stories.