Research Ethics in Nursing
The Belmont Report was established after the infamous Tuskegee Syphilis investigation, in which poor black men were enrolled in a study and denied treatment. The U.S congress passed the National Research Act forming the National Commission for the Protection of Human Subjects of Behavioural and Biomedical Research. The commission then created the resulting Belmont Report. The commission concluded three ethical principles that ought to guide human research. The principles include respect for persons, beneficence, plus justice (Miracle, 2016). The ethical framework in the Belmont Report is crucial in the nurse’s role as the patient advocate in human research situations.
The respect for a person states that all persons should be treated as free agents, and those people with limited autonomy or the vulnerable groups are entitled to protection. Vulnerable groups in studies include fetuses, pregnant women, children, neonates, prisoners and the elderly. Beneficence is the second ethical principle, and it guides on the need to maximize the possible benefits and reduce the harms. Harms in studies involving human subjects may include physical, social, psychological, legal or dignitary. Physical damages include injury, illness, suffering, pain and discomfort (Miracle, 2016). Psychological harms may consist of distress, guilt and anger, while social harms may include negative harms that come with relating with others (Miracle, 2016). Justice is the last ethical issue, and it states that all people ought to be treated equally with no bias of ethnicity, race, class or any other attribute.
Informed consent stems from the principle of justice. Individuals participating in any research should be issued with an informed consent, which is a written document stating the aim of the study, and how the participants have the right to know what is going on (Hammer, 2016). Informed consent also informs the subjects that they have the right to pull out from the experiment at any moment without any repercussions.
Lastly, the nurse’s duty to the patient is synonymous with carrying out studies in a way that benefits society by generating useful information while still protecting and respecting individuals in the research.