Mind the gaps in ethical regulations of nursing research.
The introduction of and the commitment to evidence-based nursing in all care settings have led to a rapid increase of intervention and outcome-based research programs. Yet, the topics of nursing research are not only affected by interventions and outcomes but also affected by the concept of caring derived from humanistic philosophy. Considering this twofold orientation of nursing science, nuanced ethical regulations for nursing research programs are called for. In addition to the different research approaches, further arguments for ethical regulations are as follows: first, the different degrees of contextualization and the variety of participation models regarding the target groups; second, the capacities and opportunities of participants; and third, the caring relationship between nurses and research subjects. To capture these special features of nursing science, four approaches to fill the gaps in existing ethical regulations for nursing research are proposed: (a) process orientation, (b) community orientation, (c) context orientation, and (d) relation orientation.
Department of Nursing Science, University of Vienna, Alser Strasse 23/12, Vienna, A-1080, Austria. berta.schrems@univie.ac.at
Berta M
BM
Schrems
D004993:Ethics, Nursing; D055318:Evidence-Based Nursing / Q000379:methods; D006805:Human Experimentation / Q000941:ethics*; D006801:Humans; D007258:Informed Consent; D009723:Nurse-Patient Relations / Q000941:ethics*; D015404:Nursing Methodology Research; D015399:Nursing Research / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D012307:Risk Factors; D035862:Vulnerable Populations
Caring; ethical regulations; informed consent; nursing research; susceptibility; vulnerability