Ethical Dilemmas in Nursing Research
W7 Journal Entry 7: Ethical Dilemmas
Patricia Smith
Grantham University
Theories & Research in Nursing
NUR401
Kelli Reid RN/MSN/MBA
May 14, 2013
W7 Journal Entry 7: Ethical Dilemmas
The need for nursing research is evident. With the evolution of evidenced based practice for nursing, only the most up to date or current best researched evidence is being used or promoted at the bedside (Burns & Grove, 2009, p. 16). Although this need for nursing research is evident, such research cannot be obtained at any price. The advantages must clearly outweigh the potential disadvantages in order for any research to be ethically conducted. There are, as a result, some gray areas or issues that do not have the same level of importance, to a specific group or region of people, as they would to a different region or group of people.
Care must be exercised to obtain an informed consent, to protect the privacy of those involved, to protect the participant’s personal information or data, to provide the participants an open opportunity to freely withdraw from the research project at any time and to explain the potential benefits as well as the possibility of any harm. Honestly in presentation without jargon is one of the most important components.
In some cases, none of these expected requirements are followed. One example of this is the national screening of blood collected from all new born infants in the United States. Newborn Dried Blood Spot Screening or NBS is primarily a state facilitated laboratory test that obtains blood from an infant’s foot, and tests are run on that blood to detect genetic disorders or various other metabolic or endocrine conditions. Originally when these tests on newborns began in the early 1960’s, a single test was performed to identify phenylketonuria (PKU) that has an incidence of 1:20,000-25,000 infants. Whereby if the infant is positive for this test, the breakdown of amino acid is absent causing the protein to build up
Patricia Smith
Grantham University
Theories & Research in Nursing
NUR401
Kelli Reid RN/MSN/MBA
May 14, 2013
W7 Journal Entry 7: Ethical Dilemmas
The need for nursing research is evident. With the evolution of evidenced based practice for nursing, only the most up to date or current best researched evidence is being used or promoted at the bedside (Burns & Grove, 2009, p. 16). Although this need for nursing research is evident, such research cannot be obtained at any price. The advantages must clearly outweigh the potential disadvantages in order for any research to be ethically conducted. There are, as a result, some gray areas or issues that do not have the same level of importance, to a specific group or region of people, as they would to a different region or group of people.
Care must be exercised to obtain an informed consent, to protect the privacy of those involved, to protect the participant’s personal information or data, to provide the participants an open opportunity to freely withdraw from the research project at any time and to explain the potential benefits as well as the possibility of any harm. Honestly in presentation without jargon is one of the most important components.
In some cases, none of these expected requirements are followed. One example of this is the national screening of blood collected from all new born infants in the United States. Newborn Dried Blood Spot Screening or NBS is primarily a state facilitated laboratory test that obtains blood from an infant’s foot, and tests are run on that blood to detect genetic disorders or various other metabolic or endocrine conditions. Originally when these tests on newborns began in the early 1960’s, a single test was performed to identify phenylketonuria (PKU) that has an incidence of 1:20,000-25,000 infants. Whereby if the infant is positive for this test, the breakdown of amino acid is absent causing the protein to build up
References: Anderson, R., Rothwell, E., & Botkin, J. (2011, January 1). Newborn screening: ethical, legal, and social implications. Annual Review of Nursing Research , 29, 113-132. http://dx.doi.org/10.1891/0739-6686.29.113 Burns, N., & Grove, S. K. (2009). The Practice of Nursing Research Appraisal, synthesis, and generation of evidence (6th ed.). St. Louis, MO: Saunders Elsevier. CHILD’s Legal Initiatives – Amicus Curiae Briefs. (2005). Retrieved from http://childrenshealthcare.org/?page_id=24#Lawsuits Woodcock, S. (2011, November 1). ABORTION COUNSELLING AND THE INFORMED CONSENT DILEMMA. Bioethics, 25, 495-504. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8519.2009.01798.x