Nursing Philosophy. 2019;20:e12281. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/nup | 1 of 7 https://doi.org/10.1111/nup.12281 © 2019 John Wiley & Sons Ltd 1 | INTRODUCTION Death and dying are natural phenomena embedded within complex political, cultural and social systems. Nurses often practice at the forefront of this process and have a fundamental role in caring for both patients and those close to them during the process of dying and following death (Andersson, Salickiene, & Rosengren, 2016; Dunn, Otten, & Stephens, 2005). While nursing has a rich tradition in advancing the palliative and end‐of‐life care movement, new modes of care for patients with serious and irremediable medical conditions arise when assisted death is legalized in a particular jurisdiction. Similar to countries such as Belgium and Switzerland, and to certain states within the United States of America, Canada has undergone legal transitions that support new end‐of‐life options Received: 8 July 2019 | Revised: 31 July 2019 | Accepted: 2 August 2019 DOI: 10.1111/nup.12281 ORIGINAL ARTICLE Medical assistance in dying: A political issue for nurses and nursing in Canada Davina Banner PhD, RN, Associate Professor, Registered Nurse (Casual) 1,2 | Catharine J. Schiller MSc, RN, JD Assistant Professor 1 | Shannon Freeman PhD, Assistant Professor 1 1 School of Nursing, University of Northern British Columbia, Prince George, BC, Canada 2 Prince George Hospice House, Prince George, BC, Canada Correspondence Davina Banner, University of Northern British Columbia, 3333 University Way, Prince George, BC V2N4Z9, Canada. Email: Davina.Banner‐Lukaris@unbc.ca Abstract Death and dying are natural phenomena embedded within complex political, cultural and social systems. Nurses often practice at the forefront of this process and have a fundamental role in caring for both patients and those close to them during the process of dying and following death. While nursing has a rich tradition in advancing the palliative and end‐of‐life care movement, new modes of care for patients with serious and irremediable medical conditions arise when assisted death is legalized in a particular jurisdiction. In early 2015, the Supreme Court of Canada released its landmark decision Carter v. Canada (Attorney General) (‘Carter’), which legalized physi‐ cian‐assisted suicide in particular clinical situations. The new law provided the broad national framework for Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD) in Canada but, once the law was passed, provincial and territorial governments and health professional regu‐ latory bodies each had to undertake a process of developing policies, procedures and processes to guide MAiD‐related practice specific to their jurisdiction. In this paper, we begin to examine the political ramifications and professional tensions arising from MAiD for nurses and nursing, focusing specifically upon the impacts for registered nurses. We identify how variations in the provincial and territorial literature and reg‐ ulatory guidelines across Canada have given rise to role confusion and uncertainty among some registered nurses and how this may potentially impact patient care. We then continue to highlight the need for greater political activism among nurses to foster greater clarity in nursing roles in MAiD and to advocate for improved supports for patients and those close to them. KEYWORDS assisted dying, Canada, medical assistance in dying, nurses, nursing, politics