ANA Code of Ethics

You are familiar with the ANA Code of Ethics and have a growing understanding of historical perspectives in ethical and legal considerations in research. Further, you know the BSN-prepared nurse has a different role than the PhD-prepared nurse, for example, in terms of research. In this forum, consider what the responsibilities are for the BSN-prepared nurse, given your role in nursing research and evidence-based practice (EBP) processes. You should include the following:

• You are already applying the ANA Code of Ethics now in clinical practice. Why, then, must BSN-prepared RNs consider ethical and legal issues when it is the researchers themselves who are responsible for obtaining approval from an Institutional Review Board (IRB)?
• In terms of your EBP, where does the consideration of ethical and legal issues enter?
• Many research reports do not extensively describe the ways in which the researcher(s) ensured ethical principles were applied during the study. What does that mean? How, then, would you best determine how well human subjects’ rights were protected?
• Consider any research-related processes you have or could be involved with. Describe an ethical dilemma. This could be one you experienced or a hypothetical scenario. Explain how it was resolved or could be resolved.