Ethical, professional and political dimensions of cardiac nursing research

Abstract

Ethical and institutional approvals are essential requirements if a research proposal is to become a research project. This article critically approaches the history of ethical codes, and principles, in the context of politics and practice. It notes how international regulatory mechanisms that govern the research process in medicine and nursing represented a response to state-sanctioned human rights abuses of the last century. It is argued that ethical thinking, and awareness, is central to all stages of the research process. Attention is given to pragmatic ways that cardiac nurses can protect the rights and freedoms of individuals who make an informed decision to participate in a research study, service evaluation, or clinical audit—and how this can be documented, and conveyed, to an ethical or institutional review body. Lastly, we return to the socio-cultural and economic context that frames all health and social research, calling for equivalent standards of integrity, vigilance, and respect in nursing inquiry, as would be expected in nursing care.