NUR 513 Topic 7 DQ 2 What are some of the major ethical issues in conducting research that impacts the advanced registered nurse? Discuss the role of the advanced registered nurse in advocating for patient safety and rights in conducting research.

To be honest, the human species does not have a stellar track record when it comes to ethical medical research. During World War II, Nazi Germany and the German medical establishment were implicated in harsh, cruel, and immoral human research. Following WWII, the Nuremberg trials were pushed to hold people accountable for some of the most horrible acts of “research” carried out in concentration camps (Vaughn, 2017). The Nuremberg Code, which contains 10 points outlining what is considered permissible medical experimentation, is the result of these trials (Vaughn, 2017).

The Children of Willowbrook case, which began in the 1950s on Staten Island, New York, involved a mentally retarded children’s state school purposefully infecting patients with Hepatitis (Vaughn, 2017). The facility was overcrowded and understaffed, and the patients’ living conditions were appalling. This facility was in use until the 1980s. NUR 513 Topic 7 DQ 2

Then there was the Tuskegee Syphilis study, which lasted from the early 1900s to 1972 in Alabama. Long-term studies on the effects of Syphilis on the human body were conducted by a small group of black men. This was done without the patients’ knowledge or consent, and it continued even after penicillin was discovered and widely used as a cure for syphilis by 1947. (CDC, 2020).

These men did not receive therapy, and the study was not completed until 1972, when a journalist became aware of the situation, causing public outrage (CDC, 2020). The Tuskegee Syphilis Study resulted in the Belmont Report and the 1974 National Research Act. The Belmont Report creates a framework for research ethics based on the principles of respect, beneficence, and justice (Vaughn, 2017). NUR 513 Topic 7 DQ 2

Respect for the autonomy of the patient, informed consent, and the right to confidentiality Beneficience and nonmaleficence are synonyms for “doing good” and “not causing harm.” Finally, justice requires that research be conducted fairly and without exploitation, with costs shared equally by individuals and communities.

Why do we now have codes of conduct, rules, and oaths to guide us in ethical behavior relating to human research and patient care? Because ethical practice must be constantly reexamined, changed, and enforced. As an Advanced Practice Registered Nurse (APRN), it is critical to advocate for patients’ autonomy and rights. The APRN can play a major role in developing research design, frameworks and implementations so there is a duty to do so in an ethical manner. So when developing EBPs, it is important do rigorous research and closely follow the EBP process.