Attending to Ethics in Research Flashcards
(40 cards)
Nazi medical experiments
-Nazi medical experiments of 1930s-40s are most famous example of recent disregard for ethics
-Used prisoners of war and racial enemies in medical experiments
-Exposed people to harm and subjects could not refuse participation
Tuskegee syphilis study
-Investigated effects of syphilis among 400 poor African American men
-Tx was withheld to study course of disease
-Doctor inoculated prisoners in Guatemala w/ syphilis
Codes of ethics
-Nuremberg Code was developed in 1949 in response to Nazi atrocities
-Declaration of Helsinki was developed afterward
Government regulation for protecting study participants
-Important code of ethics adopted by National Commission for the Protection of Human Subjects of Biomedical and Behavioral Research
-The commission issues the Belmont Report in 1978, serving as a basis fo regulations affecting research sponsored by US government, including studies supported by NINR
Ethical dilemmas in conducting research
-Research that violates ethical principles typically occurs because a researcher believes that knowledge is potentially beneficial in the long run
-Dilemmas may arise if nurse researchers face conflict-of-interest situations, in which their expected behaviors as nurses conflicts w/ standard research behavior
Beneficence
-Imposes a duty on researchers to minimize harm and maximize benefits
-Human research should be intended to produce benefits for participants, or more typically, for others
Beneficence: the right to freedom from harm and discomfort
-Obligation to prevent or minimize harm
-Participants must not be subjected to unnecessary risks of harm or discomfort
-Participation in research must be necessary for achieving societally important aims
-Harm and discomfort can be physical (injury), emotional (stress, social (loss of social support), or financial (expenses incurred)
Beneficence: the right to protection from exploitation
-Involvement in a study should not place participants at a disadvantage
-Information they provide can’t be used against them
-Ex: people reporting using illegal drugs should not fear being reported for a crime
-Patients’ consent to participate in a study may result from their understanding of the researcher’s role as nurse, not as researcher
-Qualitative researchers are in a better position than quantitative researchers to do good bc of close relationship w/ participants
Respect for human dignity
-Right to self-determination
-Right to full disclosure
Respect for human dignity: right to self-determination
-Right to decide voluntarily whether to participate
-Right to ask questions, refuse answering questions, drop out of study at any point
-Freedom from coercion, or explicit/implicit threats of penalty from failing to participate in a study or excessive rewards from agreeing to participate
Coercion
-Issue of coercion requires careful thought from researchers who are in a position of authority
-A generous monetary incentive or stipend to encourage low-income group might be considered mildly coercive
The right to full disclosure
-Full disclosure means researcher has fully described study, right to refuse participation, and potential risks and benefits
-Covert data collection and deception
Covert data collection
-Covert data collection (concealment) is collecting data without participants’ knowledge and w/o consent
-Used to obtain info out of worry if open disclosure would sway behavior of interest
Deception
-Deliberately withholding info or providing participants w/ false information
Justice
Participants’ right to fair tx and right to privacy
Justice: right to fair tx
-Selection of participants should be based on research requirements and not on their vulnerabilities
-Researchers must treat participants who decline to participate in a non-prejudicial manner, honor all agreements made, show respect for beliefs of different backgrounds, and treat all respectfully
Justice: the right to privacy
-Researchers should ensure their research is not more intrusive than it needs to be and that privacy is maintained
-Can expect that any data they provide will be kept in strict confidence
-Info abt ethical considerations is usually presented in method section of research report, often in subsection called “procedures”
Risk/benefit assessment
-Consider how comfortable you would have felt being a study participants
-Sometimes risk are negligible
-Minimal risk
Minimal risk
Risk expected to be no greater than those ordinarily encountered in daily life or during routine procedures
Major potential benefits
-Access to beneficial intervention that might not be available
-Relief in being able to discuss situation w/ objective person
-Increased knowledge about themselves
-Escape from normal routine
-Satisfaction that info used can help others
-Direct gains thru stipends or incentives
Major potential risks
-Physical harm, discomfort, fatigue, or boredom
-Emotional distress from self-disclosure, discomfort w/ strangers, embarrassment r/t questions being asked
-Social risks such as stigma, negative effects on personal relationship
-Loss of privacy and time
-Monetary costs (transportation, childcare, time lost from work)
Informed consent
-Participants have adequate info about study, comprehend info, and can consent to decline willingly
-Consent form is signed
-Implied consent and process consent
Implied consent
-Researcher assumes participant filling out a self-questionnaire implies consent to participate
-AKA data collection
Process content
-Ongoing process in which consent is continuously renegotiated
-Includes repeated data collection
