This study aims to get to know nurses' attitude and participation when they have to inform a patient about a prognosis of no treatment possibility. Twenty-five nurse practitioners from a general public school hospital took part in this study. Data were collected through interviews and were analyzed quantitatively and qualitatively, showing the following results: 40% of the nurses did not take a stand when informing about a prognosis of no treatment possibility; 56% did not take any part in the decision of informing the patient about the prognosis of no treatment possibility. This disclosed the need for nurses to consider bioethical matters, which can be of help in the analysis of dilemmas.
bioethics; nursing; prognosis
