This study assessed the attitudes and needs of physicians and health professional staff at a tertiary care hospital in Canada regarding the introduction of physician assisted dying (PAD) during 2015–16. This research aimed to develop an understanding of the wishes, concerns and hopes of stakeholders related to handling requests for PAD; to determine what supports/structures/resources health care professionals (HCP) require in order to ensure high quality and compassionate care for patients requesting PAD, and a supportive environment for all healthcare providers across the moral spectrum. This study constituted a mixed methods design with a qualitative descriptive approach for the study’s qualitative component. A total of 303 HCPs working in a tertiary care hospital completed an online survey and 64 HCPs working in hospital units with high mortality rates participated in 8 focus group discussions. Both focus group and survey data coalesced around several themes to support the implementation of PAD following the decriminalization of this practice: the importance of high quality care; honoring moral diversity; supporting values (such as autonomy, privacy, beneficence); and developing resources, including collaboration with palliative care, education, policies and a specialized team. This study provided the foundational evidence to support the development of the PAD program described in other papers in this collection, and can be a model for gathering evidence from stakeholders to inform the implementation of PAD in any healthcare organization.

本研究评估了 2015-16 年间加拿大一家三级医院的医生和卫生专业人员对引入医生辅助死亡 (PAD) 的态度和需求。这项研究旨在了解利益相关者在处理 PAD 请求方面的愿望、担忧和希望；确定医疗保健专业人员 (HCP) 需要哪些支持/结构/资源，以确保为请求 PAD 的患者提供高质量和富有同情心的护理，并为所有道德范围内的医疗保健提供者提供支持性环境。本研究采用混合方法设计，对研究的定性部分采用定性描述方法。共有 303 名在三级医院工作的 HCP 完成了在线调查，64 名在高死亡率医院单位工作的 HCP 参加了 8 场焦点小组讨论。焦点小组和调查数据围绕几个主题合并，以支持在这种做法非刑事化后实施 PAD：高质量护理的重要性；尊重道德多样性；支持价值观（例如自治、隐私、仁慈）；开发资源，包括与姑息治疗、教育、政策和专业团队的合作。这项研究提供了基础证据来支持本系列其他论文中描述的 PAD 计划的开发，并且可以成为从利益相关者那里收集证据以告知任何医疗保健组织实施 PAD 的模型。