Scenario #1: Research Choices

You are a geriatric home health nurse interested in conducting research on barriers to medication and treatment plan adherence amongst the elderly. Through your practice you have noticed that some patients are very good at following their doctor's advice and treatment plan, attending scheduled appointments and so on. However, other patients can be very frustrating; they do not take their medications, miss multiple appointments and do not follow guidelines on diet and exercise.

Your supervisor has asked you to design and implement a system to recognize patients who are 'non-compliant' and develop a way to ensure that they follow their treatment plan. There is a budget of $5,000 to conduct the research that will inform the design and implementation of this system. To date, you have developed a survey to be mailed to 8,000 seniors across Canada. You are excited about doing this as you should get a big 'N' and be able to publish the results in a good journal. However, a colleague is concerned that your survey is not being translated into other languages. She believes that cultural and linguistic issues may be at the heart of some 'non-compliance' behaviour. While you acknowledge that this might be possible, translating the survey into different languages would consume nearly your entire budget, and you would then have to conduct your survey with a much smaller (and less representative) sample. In addition, the translation process would take a few weeks, and you need to get the research completed quickly in order to apply for additional research funding in the next budget cycle.

Read the scenario 1 (Research choices) and the scenario discussion questions

1. What are the most substantial ethical issues involved in this case? How do these issues impact a research study you are conducting? Be sure to relate your answers to a workplace like Long term care facility for mentally ill patients.