The experience of nurses when providing care across acts that may be perceived as death hastening: A qualitative evidence synthesis

This episode features Victoria Ali (Lancaster University, Lancaster, UK. Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Bradford, UK) What is already known about the topic? Nurses deliver care for patients and those important to them across acts that may intentionally or potentially hasten death, navigating this care within the boundaries of healthcare systems and professional regulation. The increase in permissive legislation relating to assisted dying is challenging healthcare professionals to consider how an assisted death sits alongside accepted or 'traditional' healthcare practices at the end of life. Providing care in these situations can be challenging and requires emotional labour to navigate. What this paper adds? This review allows recognition of how the emotional labour involved in providing care, and its subsequent impact, is often better recognised within assisted dying than for other acts that may be perceived as death hastening. The 'normalising' of care, and consequently dying, within acts that may be perceived as hastening death limits the recognition of the emotional labour required for nurses to provide care in these circumstances. When supporting a patient through an assisted death, nurses focus on optimising the experience for the patient, whereas in other acts that may hasten death, nurses' primary focus is on the experience of those present with the patient. Implications for practice, theory, or policy The impact on nurses' emotional well-being due to the expectation to engage in significant emotional labour, in all care that may be perceived as death hastening, should be considered in daily practice, policy and organisational structure. The provision of emotional support should be considered for nurses when involved in the delivery of care that may hasten death, either through intentional acts (an assisted death) or unintended consequence of the care. Normalising care that may be perceived as death-hastening can impact nurses' feelings of agency within care delivery and may need to be considered in jurisdictions with permissive assisted dying legislation as these practices embed within organisations. Full paper available from: If you would like to record a podcast about your published (or accepted) Palliative Medicine paper, please contact Dr Amara Nwosu: a.nwosu@lancaster.ac.uk

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The experience of nurses when providing care across acts that may be perceived as death hastening: A qualitative evidence synthesis is an episode from SAGE Palliative Medicine & Chronic Care by Sage Publications.

This episode is 04:41 long.

This episode was published on Jun 9, 2025.

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