Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Knowledge, Opinions and Behaviors of Senior Nursing Students in Turkey Regarding Euthanasia and Factors in Islam Affecting These

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Journal of Religion and Health Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The descriptive study was conducted to investigate the knowledge, opinions, behaviors of senior nursing students regarding euthanasia and factors in Islam influencing these. Almost all students (97.7%) knew about euthanasia. Their knowledge, opinions and behaviors were affected by their beliefs about death, religious beliefs and the idea of being subject to euthanasia themselves. Religion influenced whether they wanted euthanasia to be legalized or would carry it out secretly. Students who would be willing for their relatives to undergo euthanasia would not want to participate in this. Knowledge about the concept of euthanasia should be increased and the subject further investigated in many dimensions.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Ahaddour, C., Branden, S. V., & Broeckaert, B. (2018). “God is the giver and taker of life”: Muslim beliefs and attitudes regarding assisted suicide and euthanasia. AJOB Empirical Bioethics,9, 1–11.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Avci, E. (2018). Does palliative sedation produce an ethical resolution to avoid the demand for euthanasia in a Muslim Country? Indian Journal of Palliative Care,24, 537–544.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Avsar, N., & Gunay, P. (2016). Euthanasia from the multiple policy window: A look at Turkey. Journal of Economics, Politics & Finance Research,1, 54–66. (in Turkish).

    Google Scholar 

  • Azizoglu, M. (2014). The opinion of physicians about euthanasia. Istanbul University Student Scientific Journal of Cerrahpasa,6, 1–7. (in Turkish).

    Google Scholar 

  • Baeke, G., Wils, J. P., & Broeckaert, B. (2011). ‘There is a time to be born and a time to die’ (Ecclesiastes 3:2a): Jewish perspectives on euthanasia. Journal of Religion and Health,50, 778–795.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Biton Serdaroglu, E. (2016). Euthanasia—Right to die. Okan University Journal of Faculty of Law (pp. 463–491). (in Turkish).

  • Burdette, A. M., Hill, T. D., & Moulton, B. E. (2005). Religion and attitudes toward physician-assisted suicide and terminal palliative care. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion,44, 9–93.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cetinkaya, F., & Karabulut, N. (2016). Nursing student’s opinions about euthanasia. Journal of Hacettepe University Faculty of Nursing,3, 28–39. (in Turkish).

    Google Scholar 

  • Demir, G., Biçer, S., & Unsal, A. (2016). Opinions of student nurses on euthanasia. Gümüşhane University Journal of Health Sciences,5, 1–11. (in Turkish).

    Google Scholar 

  • Engin, E., Uguryol, M., Aydin, A., & Selvi, F. (2017). Attitudes of students of medical and nursing schools against euthanasia. The Journal of International Social Research,10, 654–659. https://doi.org/10.17719/jisr.2017.1925. (in Turkish).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fitzpatrick, S. J., Kerridge, I. H., Jordens, C., Zoloth, L., Tollefsen, C., Tsomo, K. L., et al. (2016). Religious perspectives on human suffering: Implications for medicine and bioethics. Journal of Religion and Health,55, 159–173.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Froese, P., & Bader, C. (2007). God in America: Why theology is not simply the concern of philosophers. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion,46, 465–481.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gulmez, Ö. (2015). Opinion and attitudes of legal professionals towards euthanasia in Turkey, Hacettepe University, Ankara, Turkey. Master Thesis (in Turkish).

  • Güven, M. (2017). A general evaluation on euthanasia. Turkey Bar Association Journal,131, 33–56. (in Turkish).

    Google Scholar 

  • Hökelekli, H. (2013). Suicide. The encyclopedia of religious foundation of Turkey,22, 352. (in Turkish).

    Google Scholar 

  • Karaarslan, B., Uysal, C., Atan, Y., Tataroglu, Z., Bozkurt, I., Celepkolu, T., et al. (2014). Assessment of nurses’ views about euthanasia according to their departments. Dicle Medical Journal,41, 700–706. https://doi.org/10.5798/diclemedj.0921.2014.04.0503. (in Turkish).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Liégeois, A., & De Schrijver, S. (2018). Christian ethical boundaries of suicide prevention. Religions,9, 2–9. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel9010030.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sharp, S. (2013). When prayers go unanswered. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion,52, 1–16.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sharp, S. (2018). Beliefs in and about God and attitudes toward voluntary euthanasia. Journal of Religion and Health,57, 1020–1037.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sulu, M. (2016). On euthanasia. Marmara University Faculty of Law Journal of Legal Studies,22, 551–574. (in Turkish).

    Google Scholar 

  • Sumer, N. (2016). Euthanasia in Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Sirnak University Journal of Theology,7, 115–132. (in Turkish).

    Google Scholar 

  • Tanida, N. (2000). The view of religions toward euthanasia and extraordinary treatments in Japan. Journal of Religion and Health,39, 339–354.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Tepehan, S., Ozkara, E., & Yavuz, M. F. (2009). Attitudes to euthanasia in ICUs and other hospital departments. Nursing Ethics,16, 319–327.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Turkey Directorate of Religious Affairs. Presidency of the republic of Turkey presidency of religious affairs. Retrieved January 06, 2019 from https://www.diyanet.gov.tr/en-US/.

  • Yasar, Y., & Turan, I. (2013). Relationship between on demand killing crime and euthanasia within the framework of German, Austria and Swiss law systems supreme court judgments. Marmara University Faculty of Law Journal of Legal Studies,19, 39–72. (in Turkish).

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

I wish to acknowledge the invaluable contribution of the students who participated in this study.

Funding

The trial was not funded by any institution or organization.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Public Health Nursing, Faculty of Health Sciences, Izmir Katip Celebi University, Balatcik Cigli, 35620, Izmir, Turkey

    Julide Gulizar Yildirim

Authors
  1. Julide Gulizar Yildirim
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Julide Gulizar Yildirim.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

The author declared no conflict of interest.

Ethical Approval

In order to carry out the study, written permission was received from the Institutional Review Board for Non-Interventional Clinical Studies (IRB No:10. https://doi.org/10.2018/348). Informed verbal consent was obtained from the students.

Human Subjects Approval

Study design, data collection, data analysis and manuscript preparation were implemented by JGY.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Yildirim, J.G. Knowledge, Opinions and Behaviors of Senior Nursing Students in Turkey Regarding Euthanasia and Factors in Islam Affecting These. J Relig Health 59, 399–415 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-019-00954-z

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-019-00954-z

Keywords

Search

Navigation