Week 3 Discussion 1: Exploring Informed Consent
Reply to Julia Tom post.
In your reply post, you should compare and contrast your own viewpoints to your peer’s post.
Your response should include evidence-based research to support your statements using proper citations and APA format.
Please refer to the Grading Rubric for details on how this activity will be graded.
The described expectations meet the passing level of 80%. Students are directed to review the Discussion Grading Rubric for criteria that exceed expectations.
by Julia Tom
Informed consent is important for any individual engaging in some form of treatment to ensure ethical standards are upheld by those providing treatment or procedure for the participant (Kadam, 2017). Informed consent is utilized widely across the healthcare field to ensure that any participant is making a willing and knowledgeable decision about what they choose to participate in. In a study by Kadam (2017), the main components of meaningful informed consent were described as containing comprehension, information disclosure, voluntariness, and competence.
There have been varying guidelines on how to appropriately communicate informed consent to participants and ensure language is simple enough to obtain comprehension, but also adequately explain the research process to the participants (Nusbaum et al., 2017). One of the most common reasons that informed consent is not obtained properly is because the researchers responsible for creating informed consent forms are not adequately trained on appropriately communicating risks and benefits through the informed consent process and ensuring the information is accessible and comprehensible for all potential participants (Blease et al., 2020).
After researching various counseling clinics, mental health treatment options, psychotherapy, and research studies, I found that each one contained varying styles of informed consent and many that did not contain the components of meaningful informed consent as described earlier. Even as an active practicing registered nurse, there were some informed consents that used difficult language and contained concepts that appeared confusing and misleading. This can be troubling to know that even with a degree and background in healthcare, there may be many individuals signing informed consents without being appropriately informed.
This poses an ethical dilemma for researchers and skews results if patients are not appropriately informed of their participation and rights as a participant (Nusbaum et al., 2017) I currently work at an inpatient psychiatric hospital that is heavily involved in ongoing research projects and aims. Each unit has a research coordinator dedicated to the unit to answer questions and ensure patients have an advocate to reach out to if they are invited to participate in a research project. Our research coordinator prides themselves on ensuring patients are making informed decisions, especially concerning the privacy and boundaries necessary within the mental health field. Our research coordinator offers multiple consults with the patient to ensure informed consent is signed at an appropriate time and with ample understanding of the research.
In addition, our research always communicates with the treatment team about a patient’s decision to engage in a research study if they consent to have that information shared for there to be appropriate interdisciplinary communication. Attached below is an example of an informed consent I found online regarding engaging in clinical counseling. I found the informed consent to be a generalized overview that contained most basic information, but lacked clear understanding of the voluntary nature of participation.
References:
Blease, C. R., Arnott, T., Kelley, J. M., Proctor, G., Kube, T., Gaab, J., & Locher, C. (2020). Attitudes about informed consent: An exploratory qualitative analysis of UK psychotherapy trainees. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 11, 183.
Kadam, R. A. (2017). Informed consent process: A step further towards making it meaningful!. Perspectives in Clinical Research, 8(3), 107.
Nusbaum, L., Douglas, B., Damus, K., Paasche-Orlow, M., & Estrella-Luna, N. (2017). Communicating risks and benefits in informed consent for research: A qualitative study. Global Qualitative Nursing Research, 4, 2333393617732017.
