Table 6 Themes and subthemes

Balancing personal values and professional responsibilities

Participants supported expanding patients’ access to MAiD using the waiver of final consent. However, they anticipated ethical and legal challenges as well as discrepancies between public expectations and personal and professional limitations

Anticipating strengths and limitations of the proposed waiver of final consent amendment

Participants anticipated various benefits with the proposed amendments. Possible limitations as well as drawbacks of the proposed legislation were also discussed

Experiencing ethical influences on decisions to enter into written agreements with eligible patients

Decisions to enter into a written agreement with eligible patients to provide MAiD following their loss of capacity depended on factors such as familiarity with patients, interpretations of the foreseeability of death, opportunities for patients to change their minds and the scheduled date of death

Recognizing barriers to the enactment of MAiD in the absence of a contemporaneous consent

Participants who were willing to provide MAiD using written agreements indicated that their inability to establish intolerable suffering, objection from family members, and resistance from patients may prevent them from enacting MAiD

Navigating the potential for increased risks and burden

The challenges of participating in MAiD following the changes in legislation such as increased workload, risk for legal and professional liabilities and burnout came to light. Participants suggested increasing professional, legal and institutional support for healthcare providers