'This is uncharted water for all of us.
ConclusionsThe legalisation of voluntary assisted dying is anticipated to create a range of challenges for all types of clinicians in the hospital setting. Clinicians identified challenges both at the individual and system levels.What is known about the topic?Voluntary assisted dying became legal in Victoria on 19 June 2019 under the Voluntary Assisted Dying Act 2017. However there has been little Victorian data to inform implementation.What does this paper add?Victorian hospital clinicians anticipate challenges at the individual and system levels, and across all clinical disciplines. These challenges include increased conflict, emotional burden and workload. Clinicians report concerns about organisational culture, the logistics of delivering voluntary assisted dying under the specific Victorian law and effects on hospitals' overall work.What are the implications for practitioners?Careful attention to the breadth of staff affected, alongside appropriate resourcing, will be needed to support clinicians in the context of this legislative change.
PMID: 31751211 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
Source: Australian Health Review - Category: Hospital Management Authors: McDougall R, Hayes B, Sellars M, Pratt B, Hutchinson A, Tacey M, Detering K, Shadbolt C, Ko D Tags: Aust Health Rev Source Type: research