Research is very valuable for a number of reasons. Not only does it expand overall knowledge but correct and accurate research can translate into improvements in practice and guidelines. However, occasionally the quest for knowledge interferes with ethical research practices. The following paragraphs will explore ethics in research when using human participants.
Legal and Ethical Issues Relevant to Nursing Research
There are many clearly outlined laws and regulations concerning nursing research and research in general. For example, in response to the Tuskegee Syphilis study, the National Research Act was passed in 1974, ensuring these types of human rights violations would never occur again. (Piccolo and Thomas, 2009) The ethical issues of nursing research, however, are not so clearly defined. Ethical issues are especially relevant to nursing research because the nature of any healthcare research is to improve health or response to a malady. Experimenting and studying with ill participants can expose ethical problems, many of which may not have an obvious answer. (United States National Bioethics Advisory Commission, 2001)
The Institutional Review Board is designed to protect human participants in research studies. Board members often analyze the makeup of the experimental design, perform a risk- benefit analysis, and consider the ethics of the research before approving or disapproving of the research. The IRB considers the research and methods, ensures the participants are fully informed and consent to the research, and explores welfare and overall wellbeing of the participants by trying to maximize safety within the experiment. (Piccolo and Thomas, 2009)
In order to protect all participants, researchers should take several measures very carefully before beginning to conduct their experiment. First of all, participants must be informed of the nature of the research, their role, and any other pertinent information that will affect them throughout the course of the research. (Piccolo and Thomas, 2009) The participant must be of sound mind while they’re being informed and while they give their consent. (United States National Bioethics Advisory Commission, 2001)
A participant who consents to research when they’re drunk would not be a suitable participant. Furthermore, if applicable, the participants should be made aware of alternative treatments and the side effects of the treatment that will be administered in the study. Generally, researchers should not mislead participants in a that is damaging to their physical or mental health. (United States National Bioethics Advisory Commission, 2001)
Certain at-risk populations for unethical treatment must be given special considerations. For example, in the Tuskegee Syphilis study, the participants’ maltreatment was allowed largely because they were black, poor and diseased. (Piccolo and Thomas, 2009) While racial equality has been improved as of late, certain types of people such as foreigners, the disabled, the elderly, and the very sick are often viewed as incapable, second-class individuals. Researchers should the experiment for bias in theoretically replacing these special populations with someone similar to themselves and questioning if the experiment is still ethical. (Piccolo and Thomas, 2009)
References
- Piccolo, Francesco Lo and Thomas, Huw, (2009). Ethics and Planning Research. Farnham, England; Burlington, Vermont: Ashgate Publications.
- United States National Bioethics Advisory Commission, (2001). Ethical and Policy Issues in Research Involving Human Participants. Bethesda, MD: National Bioethics Advisory Commission.
