Ethics In Healthcare

By Author: Darnell Winters
Total Articles: 1
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One of the challenges that are experienced by the researchers is how to address ethical issues when conducting pain assessments on patients that do not have the ability to community verbally. For instance in the case that has been featured under this task. Two nurse researchers are interested in studying whether a pain assessment tool for critical care patients is valid and reliable when applied to a group of patients who cannot communicate verbally due to mechanical ventilation. Patients are randomly selected and assessed to determine whether the tool that is used is effective in determining pain responses during the nursing procedure. This discussion post discusses whether this test should be undertaken and whether such kind of tests are ethical. The rights that are violated in this study are also identified and the kind of consent that would have been needed to make the study ethical and valid where the team at Online Class Help has been very instrumental.
There is nothing wrong with conducting such kind of a test. Without having to undertake such ...
... tests, it would be impossible to find a way to find out whether patients without the ability to talk are undergoing pain during nursing procedures. However, the most important thing is how such studies are conducted. Although the study involves painful procedures, it should not cause any harm to the patient. The researchers should ensure that both the risks and the benefits that are derived from this experiment should be undertaken. The other issue that must be considered is that of consent. No patient should be involved in any research without voluntarily agreeing into the process. For instance in this case, if the patients are unconscious, this research should not be undertaken since it frustrates the principle of consent (Vranic, 2013).
Perhaps, in such cases where individuals may not have the ability to speak or maybe unconscious, a person who is close such as a family member should be engaged in signing the consent form. All the terms should be clearly noted down on the consent form before the decision is reached (Colwell, 2015). Therefore, this study should be conducted after all the ethical guidelines have been met. The researchers should not take advantage of the patient’s conditions. Therefore, in this scenario, the research should not be undertaken without ensuring that the principle of consent has been met and that this study will not cause any harm to the patient.

References
Colwell, Q. (2015). Ethical and Legal Issues in Research. Understanding Nursing and Healthcare Research, 43(10), 99-115. doi:10.4135/9781473910836.n7
Vranic, J. T. (2013, November). Validation and evaluation of two observational pain assessment tools in a trauma and neurosurgical intensive care unit. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3917801/

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