Gastmans Chris, Lemiengre Joke, de Casterlé Bernadette Dierckx
Centre for Biomedical Ethics and Law, Faculty of Medicine, Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium.
Patient Educ Couns. 2006 Oct;63(1-2):188-95. doi: 10.1016/j.pec.2005.10.004. Epub 2006 Jan 6.
To describe whether and how Catholic hospitals and nursing homes in Belgium (Flanders) have developed written ethics policies on euthanasia and communicated these policies to their employees, patients, and patient's relatives.
A cross-sectional mail survey of general directors of Catholic hospitals and nursing homes in Belgium (Flanders).
Of the 298 targeted institutions, 81% of hospitals and 62% of nursing homes returned complete questionnaires. A high percentage of Catholic hospitals (79%) and a moderate percentage of nursing homes (30%) had written ethics policies on euthanasia. Both caregivers and healthcare administrators were involved in the development and approval of these policies. Physicians and nurses were best informed about the policies. More than half of the nursing homes (57%) took the initiative to inform both residents and relatives about the policies, while only one hospital did so.
The high prevalence of written ethics policies on euthanasia in Flemish Catholic hospitals may reflect the concern of healthcare administrators to maintain the quality of care for patients requesting euthanasia. However, the true contribution of these policies to quality end-of-life care and to supporting caregivers remains unknown and needs further research.
Legislation and centrally developed guidelines might influence healthcare institutions to develop ethics policies.
描述比利时（弗拉芒大区）的天主教医院和养老院是否以及如何制定了关于安乐死的书面伦理政策，并将这些政策传达给其员工、患者及患者亲属。
对比利时（弗拉芒大区）天主教医院和养老院的院长进行横断面邮件调查。
在298家目标机构中，81%的医院和62%的养老院返回了完整问卷。高比例的天主教医院（79%）和中等比例的养老院（30%）制定了关于安乐死的书面伦理政策。护理人员和医疗管理人员都参与了这些政策的制定和批准。医生和护士对这些政策了解得最清楚。超过一半的养老院（57%）主动向居民和亲属通报了这些政策，而只有一家医院这样做了。
弗拉芒大区天主教医院中关于安乐死的书面伦理政策的高普及率可能反映了医疗管理人员对维持为请求安乐死的患者提供护理质量的关注。然而，这些政策对高质量临终护理和支持护理人员的真正贡献仍然未知，需要进一步研究。
立法和中央制定的指导方针可能会影响医疗机构制定伦理政策。
