Ethical Aspects in Research Studies the Essential

Ethical Aspects in Research Studies

The essential aspects of research are the concern and respect that the researchers offer to the participants. Research is aimed at producing insights that are beneficial to the society. However, the research should be conducted ethically. The ethical concern in research adduces that it should not advance a society at the detriment of others especially the participants in the research. Ethics in research is vital because it guides the working principles of the researcher for the research to conform to the required standards. This is the case especially when research subjects in health or medical research are often human beings. Therefore, it is vital to respect these individuals. The guiding principles in research ethics focus on preserving the rights and dignity of the research participants. In this regard, ethics focus on ensuring consent is obtained, no harm is done, the participant's privacy is respected, and the subjects are not deceived (Corey et al., 1999).

One of the ethical principles includes autonomy. This means that the responsibility on the part of the investigator is to respect each participant as a person capable of making informed choices regarding their participation in the research study. The researcher must ensure that the subject has received complete disclosure of the circumstances of the study, the risks involved, benefits and alternatives available and an opportunity to ask questions regarding the study. The principle is expressed as informed consent to participate in the study. The elements necessary for informed consent include capacity, which is the ability of the subject to decide if they want to participate and information on the study. Another element necessary for consent is voluntariness, which implies that the subject should consent to study with their free will and is free to withdraw from the study anytime.

Another principle of ethics in research is that of beneficence. This denotes that the responsibility on the part of the investigator to try to maximize the benefits for the individual participant or society, but reducing the risk of injury to the participant of the research. This implies that a thorough and honest risk or benefit assessment must be conducted. This principle ensures that the study does not harm the subjects. In this regard, all harm including psychological stress, humiliation, and personal embarrassment should be avoided, and the dignity of the subject in the research must always have the central role. The objective of this principle is to decrease the risk of harm as much as possible irrespective of the possible risks that may be present always (Glasziou, Mar, & Salisbury, 2009).

A guideline that is used to measure beneficence is to ask if the risk of harm caused to the subject outweighs the potential good of the students. If the risk outweighs the benefits, then the study cannot be ethical and thus should not be conducted. Another ethical principle relates to privacy, which provides that all subjects in the study be assured of privacy. In essence, this implies that the subjects must keep the information disclosed to them in the study. The researcher must keep the privacy of these subjects private and an assurance that the information in the study cannot be linked to them. These ethical issues in research studies are critical especially in light of the expected health care reforms (Bernadette, & Ellen 2011).

Health care reform is a broad concept that entails creating approaches focused on improving the provision of health care. Health care reforms typically involve the government making policies that aim at improving health care delivery. The policies involved in health care reforms include attempts by such policies to increase the population that can access healthcare insurance programs (Austin, 2007). These policies also enhance the range of healthcare providers to offer more options in healthcare to improve consumer access to health care practitioners and improve the quality of health. Additionally health care reforms accords more health care to citizens as well as reduce the cost of health care. Health care reforms are significant to the nursing practice as it affects how healthcare is provided and as such touches on the fundamental principles of the practice (Emanuel et al. 2008).

Health care reforms are significant to the nursing practice in several ways including the ability to redesign nursing education to make nurses competent in the provision of health care. These reforms also employ nurse-led innovations since the nurses at in constant touch with patients. Therefore, they are better positioned to make policies that are customer oriented. The reforms also increase the scope of the nursing practice and ensure advanced nursing practices on the individual's licensure and education in order to provide cost-effective healthcare. Additionally, these reforms diversify the nursing workforce in order to reduce disparities and ensure that the workforce is reflective of the patients' backgrounds and diverse cultural values. These reforms also assist in embracing technology in the practice, fostering inter-professional collaboration, and developing leadership as well as ensuring participation of the nurses in policies that touch on delivery of health care (Carol, 2013).

However, in order to ensure that all these are attainable it is vital that nurses develop systems to reduce medical errors, improve quality, provide better care, increase access to health care, and avert shortages workforce. These can be achieved through engaging in evidence-based practices, which are essential to the nursing practice since they redefine the need for nurses to generate evidence and engage in research (Emanuel et al. 2008). It is noteworthy that nurses play vital roles as innovators who assist to shape the quality and safety in the provision of health care.

Effective health care models are not raised, sustained, or implemented without logical and effectiveness data and research especially evidence-based research is highly critical in improving health. This implies that it is up to the nurses to conduct data collection and in extension conduct research with a view of improving health care delivery (Glasziou, Mar, & Salisbury, 2009). The primary objective of health care reforms is to improve health care delivery, and this can only be done through evidence-based research aimed at this objective. These reforms are essential since they support nurse researches by providing funds that facilitate research, and this is evident in providing funding for evidence-based nursing to enhance patient outcomes (Austin, 2007).