Ethical Considerations

Ethical and Legal Considerations When conducting research there are a myriad of considerations when working amidst patients. Regardless of where research is carried out, shared ethical and legal trepidations for protecting and respecting our patient’s remains constant. It should be requisite to keep at the forefront maintaining a respect for each person, beneficence, and justice while participating in research. Another critical aspect of research is the confidentiality and anonymity, ensuring the dignity of each patient.

In research, there is protected health information (PHI) that could conceivably be exposed, causing one to question to the validity and impartiality of the research. If a consent or waiver form is not signed and research

Confidentiality is important in research and is accomplished by storing all the data in a locked cabinet at the nurse’s station. The only people allowed access to the information are the 6 RN’s currently carrying out the study. To protect anonymity of the patient, I will assign a code number to each patient. I will keep a separate master list of each subject with only the code number identifying that person, also maintained and locked in the cabinet at the nurse’s station. Also, an additional list will be safeguarded in the Unit Managers office in a locked drawer with the specific code number they were assigned. The main research RN will hold the list of names of each patient matched to their specific codes and the other five RN’s will not be allowed to know the patients name and have access only to the code number, thusly protecting the anonymity of each patient. Consent forms will be kept in another drawer of the cabinet at the nurse’s station, and on each consent form we will place the code number in the right hand corner. All of these steps are necessary in order to protect our patient confidentiality and the validity of the research ensuring the data can disseminated beneficially for all parties