A nursing professor is conducting research on the relationship between eye color and retention of information presented verbally. The professor's course grading plan includes 50 points for participating as a study subject. Is this an ethical situation?

Question

1. Yes, as long as the study does not include physical risk to the participants.
2. Yes, but the study should be reviewed by the dean of the Nursing Department.
3. No, participation in nursing research must be voluntary.
4. No, true nursing research can only be carried out ethically in a healthcare environment.

Answer 1

3
Rationale 1: If the student must participate to earn 50 class points, this is not voluntary participation.
Rationale 2: A review of the study by the dean does not improve the ethics of forcing students to participate.
Rationale 3: Nursing research should be conducted only after informed consent has been obtained by willing participants. Using a reward as incentive for participation in a study can be viewed as coercion. In this situation, the course points are included in the course grading plan, so if the student elected not to participate, the student's grade would suffer.
Rationale 4: Nursing research can be carried out ethically in a number of settings outside the healthcare environment.
Global Rationale: