Informed Consent Analysis
Informed consent for research studies utilizing human subjects requires ethical and legal practices. As identified by Engel and Schutt (2013) historical experiments with unethical practices lead to the development of laws and guidelines for conducting human research. Three of the principals required for conducting the research, from the developed Belmont Report, are respect for persons, beneficence, and justice (Engel & Schutt, 2013). Part of developing ethical practices is providing participants of a study with an informed consent document, to make them aware of what they are entering into. Specifically for social workers, the National Association for Social Workers (NASW) Code of Ethics provides guidance on preventing unethical practices for participants. Some of the requirements the NASW Code of Ethics requires of social workers performing research are to obtain consent from participants, inform participants of their right to withdraw at any time without penalty, include information about the nature, extent, and duration of the participation requested, disclosure of risks and benefits of the research, no included undue inducement for participation, and provide informed written consent without any implied or actual deprivation or penalty for refusal to participate (NASW, 2008).
Strengths
The first identified strength in the informed consent form is informing the participants they may withdraw at any time, regardless of reason. However, there is not a statement informing the participants there will be no punishment, adding this could further strengthen this consent form. In accordance with the NASW Code of Ethics, the informed consent requires divulging to participants they may withdraw withou...
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... and providing coding to obscure names or anonymity to remove all information even from the researchers. Furthermore, expanding the form to include acknowledgement of legal age of consent would be important because “children cannot legally give consent to participate in research, but they must be allow to give assent to which their legal guardians have consented” (Engel & Schutt, 2013, p. 64).
Conclusion
The informed consent provided for Career Counseling has multiple strengths and weaknesses in accordance with established laws, guidance, and the NASW Code of Ethics. The informed consent form provides participants with minimal information as to what will be expected of them, is simple to understand, and does not have clear ethical violations. With some changes, the informed consent form can be improved, and further decrease potential harm caused to participants.
In the United States, the basis for ethical protection for human research subjects in clinical research trials are outlined by the Belmont Report developed in the late 1970’s. This document, published by the Nation Commission for the Protection of Human Subjects of Biomedical and Behavioral Research, highlights three important basic principles that are to be considered when any clinical trial will involve human research subjects. They are; respect for persons, beneficence, and justice. (Chadwick & Gunn, 2004)
“Action X is an informed consent by person P to intervention I if and only if:
As a student new to social work, The Code of Ethics written by the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) is in the forefront of my mind whenever practicing my freshly learned skills. According to the Code, these rules were written as the “values, principles, and standards to guide social workers’ conduct” (Code of Ethics - NASW, n.d.). Within my most-recent session, certain aspects of this code were relevant, including informed consent, privacy and confidentiality, a commitment to the client, the dignity and worth of a person, the importance of human relationships, integrity and competency of the worker, and social diversity.
Ingravallo, F., Gilmore, E., Vignatelli, L., Dormi, A., Carosielli, G., Lanni, L., & Taddia, P. (2014). Factors associated with nurses’ opinions and practices regarding information and consent. Nursing Ethics, 21(3), 299-313 15p. doi:10.1177/0969733013495225
3). By receiving approval, it can be inferred that the study was ethically acceptable and the rights of the participants are protected (Houser, 2015, p. 61). To ensure human subjects are protected during research studies, researchers use three ethical principals: respect for persons, beneficence and justice (Houser, 2015, p. 52). Respect for persons protects the individuals right to make their own decisions, beneficience is do not harm, and justice provides the right for every individual who wants the opportunity to partipate in the study can (Houser, 2015, pp. 52-53). Respect for persons was protected by the researchers because they provided informed consent prior to data collection, data collection would remain confidential, and the participants can withdraw from the study at any time (Bjerknes & Bjork, 2012, p. 3). Beneficence was protected in this study because the researcher wasn’t an employee from the hospital; this allowed new nurses’ to share their perceptions freely, preventing any fear of retribution from being honest (Bjerknes & Bjork, 2012, p. 3). Justice was not clearly stated in this study because the researchers did not clearly state if the study was open to all new nurses on all the wards of the hospital (Bjerknes & Bjork, 2012, p.
Today there are institutional review boards that are designated to approve and monitor research studies to ensure ethical standards are being met (Dudley, 2011, p. 45). As social work practice becomes more evidence-based, the worker will have an increased obligation to advocate for conducting and consuming research that aligns with ethical standards. A practicing social worker can help ensure the ethical treatment of their clients by empowering them to take an active role in their treatment decisions and goals. Three important mandates of the Council on Social Work Education that are directly relevant to research are adhering to the values and ethics of social work, promoting an understanding and commitment to diversity, and promoting human rights and social and economic justice (Dudley,
The NASW (National Association of Social Workers) Code of Ethics is intended to serve as a guide to the everyday professional conduct of social workers. This Code includes four sections. The first Section, "Preamble," summarizes the mission and core values of the social work profession. The second section, "Purpose of the NASW Code of Ethics," provides an overview of the Code 's main functions and a brief guide for dealing with ethical issues or dilemmas in social work practice. The third section, "Ethical Principles," presents broad ethical principles, based on social work 's core values, that affect social work practice. The final section, "Ethical Standards," includes specific ethical standards
Occupational therapists (OTs) must take into consideration the four elements of informed consent when deciding whether a client can comprehend and provide informed consent for consent to treat, as required by HIPAA law (Slater, 2016). The four elements of informed consent include: providing the client with all the information on his or her condition and how a therapy treatment may look; assessing how well the client understands or will understand the information provided; assessing the client’s, or legal guardian’s, capability to make decisions on his or her care; and knowing the client will not be swayed when deciding on plan of care. With informed consent, the OT discloses every detail on the client’s therapy treatment to the client, so the
Nurses run into patients’ rights daily like autonomy and informed consent, the rule that deals with patient’s informed consent is the patient will benefit by obtaining adequate and accurate information. The commitment to provide care and the needs of the patient, one reason an informed consent form wouldn’t be signed because of confidentiality, which means that patient wants total privacy; no one is to know he’s there, no paper trial. Another reason would be if no risks were involved.
Informed consent is the basis for all legal and moral aspects of a patient’s autonomy. Implied consent is when you and your physician interact in which the consent is assumed, such as in a physical exam by your doctor. Written consent is a more extensive form in which it mostly applies when there is testing or experiments involved over a period of time. The long process is making sure the patient properly understands the risk and benefits that could possible happen during and after the treatment. As a physician, he must respect the patient’s autonomy. For a patient to be an autonomous agent, he must have legitimate moral values. The patient has all the rights to his medical health and conditions that arise. When considering informed consent, the patient must be aware and should be able to give a voluntary consent for the treatment and testing without being coerced, even if coercion is very little. Being coerced into giving consent is not voluntary because others people’s opinions account for part of his decision. Prisoners and the poor population are two areas where coercion is found the most when giving consent. Terminally ill patients also give consent in hope of recovering from their illness. Although the possibilities are slim of having a successful recovery, they proceed with the research with the expectation of having a positive outcome. As stated by Raab, “informed consent process flows naturally from the ‘partnership’ between physician and patient” (Raab). Despite the fact that informed consent is supposed to educate the patients, it is now more of an avoidance of liability for physicians (Raab). Although the physician provides adequate information to his patient, how can he ensure that his patient properly ...
Consent is where a person provides either written, verbal or implied authorisation for something to happen (“Consent”, n.d.). Before any medical procedure, treatment or operation, the health care professional must gain consent from the patient. Under New South Wales law, failing to gain consent prior to medical treatment can result in legal action being taken and the health care professional being charged with assault and battery (NSW Government, 2005). For consent to be valid and legal, the patient receiving the treatment must be informed of, and completely understand their condition and the reason for their treatment in order to make the most appropriate and informed decision without any influence or pressure from others; the person must be informed of, and understand all the risks
Informed Consent is letting the patient or research subject know exactly what the doctors are going to do, and the dangers of the process. "Patients fill out a general consent form when they are admitted or receive treatment from a healthcare institution." (Jessica De Bord). What De Bord means by this, is that patients have to fill out a form to give doctors permission to receive treatment, and participate in the study. Informed Consent provides the patient the right to decide whether they want to accept or refuse treatment. Patients also have the right to end their participation at an...
The consent form also informed them that they would be tape recorded using my laptop, that their responses would be anonymous and no names would be mentioned in my paper. The first thing I said to them when meeting for the first time was: “There are no wrong or right answers, I want to hear all your viewpoints, and remember what is said in this room stays
The article titled “Contemporary Ethical Analyses: A Shortfall in Scientific Knowledge” describes the ethics through the public’s eye. One of the major ethical issues brought up is informed consent.
Career counseling is designed for individuals who needs confidential guidance in different areas of study such as experiencing indecision towards their future career path, to discover opportunities , crises such as dismissal or even unhappiness in their work. Career counseling involves coming in contact with a trained career ...