Many doctors, nurses, medical technicians, and other health care workers are involved in medical research. The field of medicine is not limited to the direct treatment of patients but also involves the continued expansion of medical research. A large part of such research is clinical research, which puts patients into the role of experimental subjects. This raises a number of challenging questions for health care ethics, many of which follow from the fact that physicians, nurses, and others involved in clinical research have a dual role. As researchers, they are committed to generating new knowledge about diseases, developing new treatments and drug therapies, and, in general, helping to improve the welfare of human beings by eliminating or controlling diseases and increasing longevity. However, researchers involved in clinical research must also be committed to the highest quality care for individual patients taking part in research studies. This assessment explores some of the ethical issues that clinical research raises and some of the safeguards in place to protect the interests of patients involved in research.
Demonstration of Proficiency
By successfully completing this assessment, you will demonstrate your proficiency in the following course competencies and assessment criteria:
• Competency 1: Articulate ethical issues in health care.
o Explain how the principle of informed consent is relevant to these issues.
o Explain the costs and benefits of offering unapproved experimental drugs to patients.
• Competency 2: Apply sound ethical thinking related to a health care issue.
o Identify relevant ethical theories and moral principles.
o Articulate arguments using examples for and against offering pre-approved drugs to wider pools of patients.
