Handling End-of-Life Situations in Small Animal Practice: What Strategies do Veterinarians Contemplate During their Decision-Making Process?

This study researched end-of-life (EoL) decision-making processes in small animal practices in the Netherlands, focusing on strategies veterinarians contemplate during this process. Fourteen veterinarians were interviewed about animal end-of-life decision-making. The results of these interviews show that the decision-making process consists of three steps. The first step is to assess the animal’s health and welfare. During the second step, veterinarians consider the position of the owner. Based on steps 1 and 2, veterinarians decide in step 3 whether their advice is to a) euthanize or b) contemplate one or more strategies to come to a decision or potentially alter the decision. These results can support members of the veterinary profession to reflect on their decision-making process. If veterinarians know what strategies their peers use to deal with EoL situations, this can help to reduce the stress they experience in such situations. In addition, veterinarians may find inspiration for new strategies in the study results. For the veterinary profession itself, the current results can be used as a starting point for describing best practices for EoL decision-making in small animal practice.

本研究探讨荷兰小型动物诊所的末期生命（EoL）决策过程，重点关注兽医在此过程中所考虑的策略。对十四位兽医进行了关于动物末期生命决策的访谈。这些访谈的结果表明，决策过程包括三个步骤。第一步是对动物的健康状况和福利进行评估。在第二步中，兽医考虑主人的立场。基于第一步和第二步，兽医在第三步决定其建议为：a）实施安乐死或b）考虑一种或多种策略以作出决策或可能改变决策。这些结果可以支持兽医行业的成员反思他们的决策过程。如果兽医了解他们的同行在处理末期生命情况时所使用的策略，这有助于减轻他们在这种情况下所经历的压力。此外，兽医可能从研究结果中获得新的策略灵感。对于兽医行业本身而言，当前的结果可以作为描述小型动物诊所末期生命决策最佳实践的起点。