Aim: This article aims to evaluate the ethical role of nurses in euthanasia and nursing care using bibliometric analysis techniques and to provide guidance for future research.Material and Methods: This study conducts a bibliometric analysis employing Biblioshiny, RStudio, and VOSviewer software to thoroughly present performance metrics such as publication and citation counts, author analysis, country and organization profiles, journal and document types, and keyword analysis; it also includes science mapping through thematic analysis, factor analysis, and network and overlay visualizations related to "euthanasia", "nursing", and "ethics" keywords.Results: The study focuses on 532 English-language articles published in 211 journals by 926 authors between 1994 and 2024. "Gastmans C." is the leading author, and "Nursing Ethics" is the top journal. The USA is the most prominent country. The most commonly used keywords in the network map are "euthanasia, ethics, and nursing." Conclusions: Nurses face many ethical and legal challenges that restrict their autonomy concerning euthanasia. Their roles and ethical perspectives are often overlooked in patient care, causing moral distress. Therefore, the legal and ethical responsibilities of nurses regarding euthanasia must be clearly delineated.Implication for nursing practice: The findings of this study are anticipated to help nurses better internalize euthanasia and nursing ethics, promote ethical patient care at the end of life, and guide future research, thereby strengthening the limited existing literature.
Ümmügülsüm Kaya (Thu,) studied this question.