Finnish doctors and the realisation of patient autonomy in the context of end of life decision making.

Patient autonomy is a fundamental principle in end of life decision making. However, its realisation may take a variety of forms. Discourse analysis was conducted in a qualitative interview study of 19 physicians. The physicians made use of three different discourses, each of which contained a specific understanding of patient autonomy and a physician's proper activities in the context of end of life decision making.