Attitudes of medical personnel (doctors and nurses) toward informing the terminal patient.

: The right to be informed, an indispensable condition of informed consent for a given therapeutic intervention, results in numerous practical problems in extreme situations. The purpose of this study was to analyze the relevant attitudes of medical practitioners and nursing staff. A total of 108 doctors and 102 nurses ranging in age from 22 to 63 years (mean 29, 67; SD 8, 73) was randomly selected from personnel currently in practice in Murcia (Spain) and asked to respond to a 72 item questionnaire developed by the authors. The results underline the need to approach the doctor-patient relationship from standpoint more closely attuned to the real circumstances of medical practice.