Codes of Practice and Informed Consent

Codes of Practice and Informed Consent

When it comes to nursing, the health and care of patients are crucial. But in nursing research, the accuracy and trustworthiness of the research also matter. Clinical research is vital for medical progress. Yet, history shows that researchers haven’t always treated participants fairly. This is especially true for groups like prisoners, people with disabilities, or people of color, who’ve been historically marginalized.

Nurses and others who care for these patients often face “moral injury,” feeling pain from witnessing or taking part in unethical actions.

In 1985, the American Nurses Association (ANA) updated its Human Rights Guidelines for Nurses in Research, giving nurses guidance to protect participants and their rights. These guidelines are like but narrower than the ANA’s Code of Ethics for Nurses. They help nurses make ethical choices, safeguard participants, and avoid moral injury. This page outlines the ethical codes and informed consent in nursing, showing how to use them.

Nursing Actions and Ethical Concerns

Nurses involved in research face ethical dilemmas when new methods are used without understanding the outcome. They have to decide what’s right when there’s no surety that a technique or procedure will help patients and might even cause harm.

Nurses aren’t alone in this. Research organizations usually assign groups to ensure participants’ rights are protected.

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Informed Consent for Nurses

“Informed consent” means the person most affected by a choice gets to make that choice. For nurses in research settings, they must:

– Be informed if they’ll provide treatment in a research double-blind study. (Double-blind means neither the researcher nor the patient knows if the patient gets the treatment being tested or a control).
– Know if they’ll collect data for research.
– Be allowed to say no to research if they’re not told about it beforehand.
– Be aware of any potential risks to patients from research and how to spot and handle those risks.

Informed Consent for Participants

Participants must also know about any risks tied to taking part in a study. As patient advocates, nurses in research must get what patient informed consent is and report if a participant wasn’t fully informed about a study.

While this is true for all participants in research, the ANA highlights that nurses must be particularly responsible for those who might be exploited or can’t give informed consent.

Human Rights

Researchers must shield participants from harm. Though research carries some risk, it must be minimized and balanced with potential benefits and knowledge. Participants must also know they can leave research anytime without facing consequences or a change in care quality.

Nurses must also stand up for each participant’s right to privacy and dignity. This means no harm should come to subjects during the study or when the findings are shared. Patients should know what info they’re expected to share as part of the study and how and where it might be published.

Participants

While patients are the main participants whose rights must be safeguarded, this also includes organ and tissue donors, survey respondents, and volunteers.

Nurses must especially watch out for certain participants, like prisoners, students, mental health facility residents, and military personnel. They also have to be cautious about minors’ rights. Minors should only join research with informed consent from a parent or guardian.

In general, children and those with limited freedom should avoid research unless they or similar groups stand to benefit.

Benefits of Research

The guidelines say that supporting research has societal benefits nurses should back. They state nurses are obliged to support scientific knowledge that improves nursing practice and patient care.

For more about nurses’ roles in supporting research, Provision 7 of the Code of Ethics for Nurses goes into detail about advancing nursing knowledge.

Other Resources

The Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Human Research Protections has a variety of resources, including free online education.
The University of Pittsburgh has resources on protecting research participants, including participants with low literacy levels,

Sources

Human rights guidelines for nurses in clinical and other research. (1985). American Nurses Association

Codes of ethics for nurses. (2015). American Nurses Association

Other Resources

• The Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Human Research Protections has a variety of resources, including free online education.
• The University of Pittsburgh has resources on protecting research participants, including participants with low literacy levels,

Sources