• Journal of Digital Convergence
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• v.18 no.7
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• pp.347-355
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• 2020

The purpose of this study was to identify the attitude, role perception and nursing stress on life sustaining treatment of nurses. The participants were 160 nurses in G hospital of P city. Data were collected by using self-report questionnaires. The mean score of attitude toward life sustaining treatment was 3.33, role perception was 3.94 and nursing stress was 3.78. Attitude toward life sustaining treatment was significant difference for work unit and nursing stress was significant difference for gender, marital status and work unit. The nursing stress was positively correlated with role perception. The influencing factors of nursing stress were gender, medical ward, intensive care unit and role perception. Therefore, it is necessary to develop education program to reduce nursing stress and research is needed to verify the effectiveness of the program.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.688-698
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• 2021

The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of perception of good death and knowledge toward advance directive on attitude toward withdrawal of life-sustaining treatment among university hospital nurses. The subjects of this study were 207 university hospital nurses. Data were analyzed using the SPSS Statistics 24.0 version. The results showed that factors influencing attitude toward withdrawal of life-sustaining treatment were perception of good death (𝛽=-.32, p<.001), education experience for good death (𝛽=.15, p=.024), and knowledge toward advance directive (𝛽=.14, p=.036). They explained 14.2% of attitude toward withdrawal of life-sustaining treatment. Based on the results of this study, it suggests the development of education programs for good death and life-sustaining treatment to improve the perception of good death, knowledge toward advance directive of university hospital nurses.

• The Korean Society of Law and Medicine
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.67-96
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• 2022

"Aid in Dying" means that when a decision-making patient suffers from an incurable disease, a drug that can speed up death is prescribed by a doctor and used to lead to death. Since the suspension of life-sustaining treatment was institutionalized based on human dignity and patient autonomy, the question of whether assisted death can be legally justified in relation to the right to receive medical help to shorten one's life to die with dignity has recently been actively discussed. In Korea, since the suspension of life-sustaining treatment was institutionalized by the enactment of the Life-sustaining Treatment Decision Act in 2016, an amendment to the Life-sustaining Treatment Act was recently proposed to legalize Aid in Dying. The global trend is that human "Right to Die" is discussed in the division of life and death, from the suspension of life-sustaining treatment to assisted death, and again in the order of euthanasia. In this paper, we started discussing dignified death and institutionalized patients' right to self-determination, looked at the controversy in the United States, which legislated assisted death in many states since the 2000s, and analyzed the main contents of California's End of Life Option Act and the data after enforcement. The strict requirements for Aid in Dying, such as voluntary confirmation of patients' intentions and doctors' obligation to provide information, and the results of California's Aid in dying system, composed of relatively diverse races, were reviewed.

• Journal of Korean Academic Society of Home Health Care Nursing
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.82-91
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• 2020

Purpose: This study aimed to explore the factors influencing attitudes toward withdrawal of life-sustaining treatment (WLST) in adolescents. Methods: This study used a descriptive research design. A structured questionnaire was administered to 185 adolescents. Data were analyzed based on t-tests, analysis of variance, Pearson's correlation coefficient, and multiple regression using the IBM SPSS 20.0. Statistical package. Results: There was a negative correlation between attitudes toward WLST and respect for life (r=-.188, p=.010). Knowing about life-sustaining treatment (β=-0.30, p<.001), experience of WLST education (β=0.21, p=.003), experience of respect for life education (β=-0.16, p=.021), and experience of death (family or acquaintance) (β=-0.13, p=.039) explained 16.7% (F=8.39, p<.001) of the variance in attitudes toward WLST. The respect for life did not affect attitudes toward WLST (β=-0.07, p=.347). Conclusion: The study findings suggest that WLST in adolescents is different from that of adults. Further research is needed to develop strategies for sound and positive attitudes toward WLST in adolescents.

• The Korean Society of Law and Medicine
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.257-279
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• 2016

Recently, the Well-dying Act was legislated in Korea, and it will come into effect in August 4, 2017. This Act allows to withdraw the life sustaining treatment from impending death patients and also provide the hospice and palliative treatment to terminal patients. In the Supreme Court's case so called "Madam Kim", medical condition of Madam Kim was a persistent vegetative status owing to brain damage and her family members wanted to remove the artificial ventilation. In 2009, the Supreme Court allowed to withdraw the artificial ventilation under the specific conditions. We applied this new Well-dying Act to the Madam Kim's case hypothetically in order to know this Act can reasonably solve the problem of life sustaining treatment for dying or terminal patients. For the impending patients, the Well-dying Act has the problem not to withdraw the futile treatment due to the advance directives of patients. Vice versa, the terminal patients have no chance to withdraw the life sustaining treatment due to the this Act impose the duty to provide the hospice and palliative treatment despite of advance directives. We need to ruke out the persistent vegetative patients from the terminal patients caused by the cancer, acquired immune deficiency syndrome, chronic obstructive lung disease and chronic liver cirrhosis, In addition, we have to discuss the effect of the advance directives of terminal patients in view of self determination right.

• Journal of Digital Convergence
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.489-499
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• 2016

The purpose of this study is to attempt to analyze factors affecting elderly persons' life-sustaining treatment preferences, focusing on ego integrity trait. This study used data from Elderly Profiles and Welfare Needs of the Elderly Persons(2014). The analysis sample was 10,451 cases. 86.4 percent of the sample responded that they disagree with life-sustaining treatment. Analysis results are as follows: being female(${\beta}=-.045$, p<.001), the younger(${\beta}=-.024$, p<.05), having more education years(${\beta}=.027$, p<.05), higher satisfaction of life(${\beta}=.022$, p<.05), responding that they had thought about their own funeral(${\beta}=.032$, p<.01), responding that they had used senior centers over the last one year(${\beta}=-.038$, p<.01) are related to disapproval of life sustaining treatment. This research shows that ego integrity trait such as satisfaction of life, or accepting and preparing one's own death, is related to disapproval of life-sustaining treatment.

• Journal of Hospice and Palliative Care
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.147-154
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• 2012

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to understand family members' experience of deciding to withdraw life-sustaining treatments for terminally-ill patients in an unconscious state. Methods: Data were collected by performing an in-depth interview with eight terminally-ill patients' family members who decided to withdraw life-sustaining treatments. Colaizzi's phenomenological method was used for data analysis. Results: Questions were classified into 12 groups and finally into five categories. The five categories were about family members' frustration with patient's condition, emotional preparation for the patient's death upon medical professionals' recommendation, patient's wishes, exhaustion due to caring and past experiences related to life-sustaining treatment. Conclusion: Using the five categories, hospice and palliative professionals could better understand family members' decision making experience of withdrawing life-sustaining treatments for terminally-ill patients. Based on that, the family members could be provided with appropriate counseling and care, which in turn could improve hospice and palliative care intervention.

• Journal of East-West Nursing Research
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.171-179
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• 2017

Purpose: The purpose of current study was to investigate nurses and physicians' attitudes towards withdrawal of life-sustaining treatment (LST) and knowledge about withdrawal of LST guideline by Korean Medical Association. Methods: Data were collected from 345 nurses and 88 physicians using a self-report questionnaire and analyzed using descriptive statistics, independent t-test or ${\chi}2$ test. Results: Participants' attitudes towards withdrawal of LST were positive and there was no significant difference between nurses and physicians. Nurses' knowledge of the guideline for withdrawal of LST was significantly higher than that of physicians, whereas physicians' knowledge of the purpose of the guideline was significantly higher than that of nurses. Conclusions: Nurses and physicians' knowledge of and attitudes toward withdrawal of LST may affect the quality of life of patients and their families. The result of this study may be helpful to design a program for improving the perception on LST of healthcare providers.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.58 no.3
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• pp.213-229
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• 2005

The first and the longest criminal indictment case of Korean medico-legal battle, so called BORAMAE Hospital Incident, was finally on its end by Korean Supreme Court's decision on June 24, 2004, after 7 years long legal dispute via Seoul District Court and Seoul Superior Appeal Court's decision. Boramae Hospital case was the first Korean legal case of Withdrawing Life-sustaining treatment of mechanical respirator on 58 years old Extradural Hematoma victim who was on Respirator under Coma after multi-organ failure postoperatively(APACHE II score: 34-39). Two physicians who have involved patient's care and had helped to make discharge the Near-death patient to home after repeated demand of patient's wife, due to economic reason, were sentenced as homicidal crime. This review article will discuss the following items with the review of US cases, Quinlan(1976), Nancy Cruzan(1990), Barber (1983), Helen Wanglie(1990), Baby K (1994) and Baby L cases, along with Official Statement of ATS and other Academic dignitaries of US and World.: [1] Details of Boramae Hospital incident, medical facts description and legal language of homicidal crime sentence. [2] The medical dispute about the legal misinterpretation of patient's clinical status, regarding the severity of the victim with multi-organs failure on Respirator under coma with least chance of recovery, less than 10% probability. [3] Case study of US, of similar situation. [4] Introduction of ATS official Statement on Withdrawing/ Withholding Life sustaining treatment. [5] Patient Autonomy as basic principle. [6] The procedural formality in Medical practise for keeping the legitimacy. [7] The definition of Medical Futility and its dispute. [8] Dying in Dignity and PAS(Physician Assisted Suicide)/and/or Euthanasia [9] The Korean version of "Dying in Dignity", based on the Supreme Court's decision of Boramae Hospital incident (2004.6.24.) [10] Summary and Author's Note for future prospects.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.42 no.2
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• pp.135-140
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• 2007

It is not the best way to treat a hopeless patient with life-sustaining medical devices until the heart beats stop. Advanced medical technology may prolong the life for a significant period without recovery from the disease. However, it would give an unbearable economic burden to the family and the society. In 2006, we decided not to operate 9 patients with traumatic intracranial hematomas. We examined those patients with special references to possible legal and ethical problems. It is reasonable to withhold a treatment after documentation that the family never wants any life sustaining treatment when the treatment does not guarantee the meaningful life.