Research plays a crucial role in the field of nursing in an attempt to alleviate suffering, improve care and advance the well-being of patients. Research is a source of new information on how nursing should be improved. This pamphlet seeks to inform nursing graduate students on the guidelines and procedures that protect research participants.
In nursing research, ethics guides moral judgment and standards of conduct. When conducting nursing research, participants must ensure they conform to the principles of nursing (Bush, 2005). Importantly, they have to uphold the principle of non-maleficence to avoid harm. Other principles that should guide them include autonomy, justice and beneficence. Participants are required to act within the provisions of these principles.
Participants in nursing research are also required to take note of the legal issues while conducting research. To be in the safer side, they have to ensure they play their duty well. It is important that they avoid breaching their duties as this can lead to legal redress.
IRB Guidelines
Graduate nursing students who seek to carry out nursing research should be aware of the IRB guidelines (Bush, 2005). They should be aware that it is essential to obtain IRB approval before collecting any data for the purpose of research. This is crucial as it ensures that researchers do not harm or put at risk the people who are the research subjects. In the United States of America, research subjects are defined in the Code of Federal Regulations, part 46 of Title 45. Before involving themselves in any form of human or nursing research, participants must ensure they have approval from IRB.
Procedures of Protection for All Participants
It is important that nursing research participants are trained in the basic protection requirements. The National Institutes of Health require research participants to have education in basic human subjects. In essence, this requirement seeks to ensure that the welfare and rights of nursing personnel and patients are adequately protected. In order to achieve this, the Nursing Research Committee constantly reviews research procedures and develops the necessary instruments to carrying out such research. This is the reason behind NRC’s requirement for research to be approved before being carried out.
Special Considerations for At-risk Populations
At-risk populations should be given special considerations when carrying out nursing research (Massey, 2008). This population may include the young, the old, the mentally impaired and the sick persons. This consideration is based on human dignity grounds such as fairness, caring and protection against any form of abuse.
When carrying out nursing research in vulnerable populations, additional protection is needed. This protection must be clearly described in the research protocol so as to ensure their rights are not abused in the process of carrying out the research. Special considerations may take the form of avoiding questions that could embarrass the subjects of the research or subjecting them to undue discrimination (Clifford, 2000). The age of the population is also given key consideration in order to ensure that the information collected is relevant. This is the only way researchers can collect relevant information about the issue in question.
References
Bush, C. T. (2005). Nursing research. Reston, VA: Reston Pub. Co.
Clifford, C., & Gough, S. (2000). Nursing research. Prentice Hall.
Massey, V. H. (2008). Nursing research. Springhouse, PA: Springhouse Corp.
