RCN: new guidance for nursing staff on assisted suicide

Published: 20 October 2011

The RCN has launched new UK-wide guidance for nurses and health care assistants on how to respond to requests from patients in relation to assisted suicide.

When someone asks for your assistance to die: RCN guidance on responding to a request to hasten death aims to support the relationship between patients and nurses, protect the vulnerable and set  out the legal position for health care workers. The document emphasises that assisting a suicide is illegal but provides practical examples of how to deal with difficult conversations and deliver good quality end of life care.

RCN Executive Director of Nursing and Service Delivery Janet Davies said the guidance does not encourage nursing staff to raise the issue of assisted suicide with patients, but it acknowledges the need to provide support for nursing staff when patients talk about or hint at ending their lives or hastening their deaths.

“There are patients who talk about ending their lives as another way of expressing concerns about their condition or their level of pain. Nurses shouldn’t feel that asking them about these comments is giving the impression that they are assisting or encouraging that patient to take their own life. Such conversations might be the only time a patient discusses their worries, and it is an essential part of professional nursing practice to recognise and explore concerns with each and every patient where possible.

“More than anything, what nurses want to see is a situation where they are able to provide dignified end of life care, where concerns about pain, suffering or loss of control can be discussed and managed. For this to happen, end of life care has to be prioritised and patients should expect the same level of dignified and expert care wherever they die,” she said.

The guidance was commissioned by RCN Council in 2009, the same year that RCN Council voted to move to a neutral position on assisted suicide. This means that the RCN does not lobby for or against a change in the law in relation to assisted suicide.

Download When someone asks for your assistance to die: RCN guidance on responding to a request to hasten death from www.rcn.org.uk/publications

Further information

Topics covered by the guidance include:

• the law on assisted suicide in England, Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland
• the law on advance decisions
• sources of information on high quality end of life care
• reasons why people may express a wish to die
• responding to a request to hasten death
• scenarios nurses may encounter and suggested responses.