Medical aid in dying in Quebec: Context analysis and analysis of nursing practice in palliative care

Context: Quebec’s “medical aid in dying” (MAID) is a medical intervention mostly practiced in palliative care units. MAID results from a deep revolution within Quebec’s ethics regarding end-of-life care. However, there is a lack of empirical studies regarding nursing practice within the context of MAID.
Aim: To conduct a literature review of legal and scientific data, as well as data from the media, related to the patient experience of nursing practices in palliative care for patients in Quebec who have requested MAID.
Methodology: Burn, Grove, and Sutherland’s methodology allowed us to extract and analyze six empirical studies from the CINAHL database. We also analyzed 17 media articles and one legal paper that documents the legalization of MAID in Quebec.
Results: There has been a strict law governing MAID since 2015, but some major social events and issues have recently allowed for the expansion of the practice. The literature review allowed us to identify two themes: 1). the nature of nursing practice within MAID, and 2). the need for nursing education that addresses the complex aspects of MAID.
Discussion and conclusion: We discuss the effects of the domination of the biomedical narrative on MAID and the collapse of Quebec’s health system, which both negatively impact nursing practice in the context of MAID.