Archives of Disease in Childhood - Fetal and Neonatal Edition 2007;92:F81-F82
PERSPECTIVE
Fear of death and dying
Fear of death and dying
Correspondence to:
Dr M P Ward Platt
Ward 35, Royal Victoria Infirmary, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 4LP, UK; m.p.ward-platt@ncl.ac.uk
Perspective on the paper by Barr (see page 104)
| The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below. |
It would be possible to respond to Peter Barr’s paper "Relation of neonatologists’ end-of-life decisions to their personal fear of death" with anger, disbelief or indifference, and it could be misunderstood as suggesting that covert euthanasia is a rampant practice in neonatal units, at least in Australasia. Neither these responses nor such a misreading would do justice to a paper that explores the personal attitudes that mediate the decision-making processes of neonatal consultants when faced with babies in whom the possibility of forgoing continued life support has become an option to be seriously considered.
In a survey of Australian and New Zealand (ANZ) neonatologists, using validated instruments for measuring dimensions related to fear of death or dying, Barr confirmed that some ANZ neonatologists are comfortable with knowingly hastening death with sedation and analgesia. This has already been shown in Europe, and Barr’s paper suggests that
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- Relationship of neonatologists’ end-of-life decisions to their personal fear of death
- Peter Barr
Arch. Dis. Child. Fetal Neonatal Ed. 2007 92: F104-F107.[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
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