Information on the Individual Studies within the Research Project
(for staff members of cooperating organizations)

The following sections are addressed to qualified nurses from our cooperating organizations who are interested in participating in one or more studies within the Attention research project.

Do you work as a nurse in one of our cooperating organizations — or are you simply curious?

We appreciate your interest in our research project!
Our poster provides an overview of the research project and your participation opportunities. You can download it here (Please note: The poster is currently available in German only).

In this section, you will also learn how you can contribute to the research project and what steps are required to take part. Participating in our research not only offers you the opportunity to gain insight into science and research, but also contributes significantly to the (further) development of practice-relevant knowledge and competencies.

Whether you already have research experience or are simply curious and would like to try something new – we look forward to your support!

In principle, you can take part in the following studies:

Way to Get Involved

Background and Importance of Your Participation in the Focus Group

As part of our three-year research project, we work closely with nurses from both residential and home-based long-term care to develop supportive tools for challenging situations related to desire to die statements and requests for assisted suicide: practice and ethics guidelines. These guidelines are designed to help nurses handle the desire to die and requests for assisted suicide from older adults professionally and responsibly, while also implementing measures for suicide prevention.

To ensure that the practice and ethics guidelines are tailored to the needs of your daily work, we rely on your professional expertise and experience. As a first step, we want to place your valuable insights at the center of our work by exchanging ideas with you and other nurses. This will be done through a focus group. A focus group is a moderated, structured, and topic-specific group discussion conducted with a group of nurses.

Procedure and Topics of the Focus Groups

In small groups, you and other nurses working in residential or home-based long-term care will discuss key topics of our project: your experiences with desire to die statements, requests for assisted suicide, and suicide prevention. During the focus group, a short online survey will also be conducted. Detailed information about this online survey can be found under the heading "Online Survey during Focus Groups".

Each focus group lasts approximately 2.5 hours. Depending on your employer, participation may be counted as working hours. Your contact person at your organization can provide further details.

Participation and Data Protection

Before participating, you will receive all essential information about the project and the study in the form of a comprehensive information and consent document. Your discussion contributions will be anonymized so that no conclusions can be drawn about you or your organization. At the beginning of the focus group, we will also provide detailed information on the voluntary nature of participation and the protection of your data.

Structure and Analysis

Each focus group follows a structured guide to ensure that the results are comparable and to facilitate a targeted exchange of ideas. After the focus group, the research team will analyze the content to generate detailed, practice-oriented insights that will directly inform the development of the practice and ethics guidelines.

Detailed Information and Clarification

Interested in learning more? For further details about the focus group, we have prepared a compact flyer summarizing the most important questions and answers. You can download this Q&A flyer (Please note: The flyer is currently available in German only). To provide you with comprehensive information about the study, we have also prepared a detailed information and consent document, which you can download (Please note: The document is currently available in German only). Alternatively, you can receive this document from the contact person for the research project at your organization or directly from us.

Registration and Contact

If you have further questions about the focus group or would like to register for participation, please contact our project coordination. The contact person for your inquiry is Karen Klotz

We look forward to your message and are happy to answer any questions you may have!

Background and Significance of Your Participation in the Online Survey

As a nurse working in residential or home-based long-term care, you are often the first point of contact for older adults in need of care when they express a desire to die or make requests for assisted suicide. At the same time, you carry responsibility for suicide prevention. These situations are ethically and professionally challenging and often ambiguous. It is therefore important that nurses respond to such desires and requests in a professional manner while fulfilling their responsibility for suicide prevention.

Our three-year research project aims to support you in dealing with the desire to die of older adults in need of care, requests for assisted suicide, and the implementation of suicide prevention by developing practice and ethics guidelines. To achieve this, we would like to include your experiences and expertise. The first step of this project involves a structured focus group, which gives you the opportunity to share your perspectives and take part in a short online survey. Further information about the focus group can be found under the heading “Focus Groups (Group Discussions)”.
If you are also interested in the online survey, which takes place as part of the focus group, you are in the right place here. The purpose of the online survey is to find out how well you are able to cope with difficult ethical situations and whether you have confidence in your ability to handle them successfully. For this purpose, we use a questionnaire that has been specially translated and adapted for this project.
You do not need any prior knowledge to participate in the online survey. By taking part, you help us to evaluate the research project.

Procedure of the Online Survey

As part of the focus group, you will receive access to a short online survey via QR code, which you can easily complete on your smartphone (a paper version is also available as an alternative).
The survey first collects information about your professional qualifications, your work setting (residential/home-based), and your professional experience in long-term care.
You will then be asked to assess your moral self-efficacy in dealing with assisted suicide and suicide prevention by indicating how confident you feel in the described situations.

Participation is voluntary and anonymous. You can decide for each question whether you wish to answer it. Participation in the online survey is independent of your participation in the focus group. This means that even if you take part in the focus group, you are not required to complete and submit the online survey.

Participation and Data Protection

The collection of personal data is minimized and carried out under high security standards.
Your responses are only visible to us once you have given your consent and submitted the survey. Absolute confidentiality is guaranteed.

Structure and Data Analysis

After submission, the survey is analyzed by the research team using computer-assisted methods with statistical software that has been data-protection-approved by Esslingen University of Applied Sciences. It is no longer possible to draw any conclusions about your identity afterwards.

Detailed Information and Disclosure

Interested? For more detailed information about the online survey as part of the focus group, we have created a compact Q&A flyer summarizing the most important questions and answers.
You can download this Q&A flyer here(Please note: The flyer is currently available in German only).

To inform you in detail about the data collection, we have also prepared a comprehensive information and consent form, which you can download here(Please note: This document is currently available in German only). Alternatively, you can obtain this document from the contact person for the research project at your organization or directly from us.

Questions and Contact

If you have any questions about participating in the online survey, please contact our project coordination team. No separate registration is required for participation in the online survey — it is sufficient to register for the focus group.

Your contact person for inquiries is Karen Klotz

We look forward to hearing from you and are happy to answer any questions you may have!

Background and Significance of Your Participation in the Online Survey for the Evaluation of the Practice and Ethics Guidelines (“Delphi Survey”)

The results from the completed focus groups have been analyzed, and based on these findings, we have developed a first draft of the Practice and Ethics Guidelines. We would now like to optimize this draft with the help of your professional nursing assessment to ensure its applicability in practice.
To comprehensively include your practical nursing perspective and expertise in the guideline development process, we invite you to participate in a two-round online survey (“Delphi Survey”), in which you can evaluate key elements of the guidelines.

Procedure of the Online Survey

The survey for the evaluation of the guidelines (“Delphi Survey”) will be conducted using online questionnaires in two rounds.
The first round will take place between February and March 2026, after which the results will be analyzed.
Those guideline elements that do not reach a majority consensus will be included in the second round, which will take place between May and June 2026.

Completing the online questionnaire takes a maximum of 30 minutes per round.
To participate, you will need a computer or smartphone with internet access.
You can access the online survey via a link or QR code provided by a contact person at your organization.

Participation and Data Protection

Participation in the survey is voluntary and anonymous.
You may decide for each question whether or not you wish to answer it.
The collection of personal data is minimized and carried out under high security standards.
Your responses are only visible to us once you have given your consent in the final step and submitted the survey. Absolute confidentiality is guaranteed.

Data Analysis

After submission, the questionnaires will be analyzed by the project team using computer-assisted methods with statistical software (SPSS) that has been reviewed and approved for data protection compliance by Esslingen University of Applied Sciences. It will not be possible to draw any conclusions about your identity afterwards.

Detailed Information and Consent

Interested?
For further information about the two-round online survey (“Delphi Survey”), we have created a compact information flyer (Please note: The flyer is currently available in German only) summarizing the most important questions and answers.
You can download this information flyer here (Please note: The flyer is currently available in German only). A detailed information and consent document can also be downloaded here (Please note: The document is currently available in German only).

Detailed information about this survey will be published on our website at a later date. We recommend visiting the website regularly to stay informed about current developments.

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Information on the Individual Studies within the Research Project
(for staff members of cooperating organizations)

Way to Get Involved

Interested? Apply now! for the summersemester 2026