Abstract
Purpose: To clarify the current state of ethics review in nursing programs at universities and discuss the ideal state of ethics review for nursing research.
Methods: Self-administered questionnaires were distributed by postal mail to full-time faculty members at schools of nursing in all regions of Japan. The faculty members selected were those who had thorough knowledge of ethics review in nursing research.
Results: Out of 89 faculty members of schools of nursing that responded to the questionnaires (44.5% response rate), two faculty members indicated that their school did not have an ethics review board; therefore, data on 87 schools were analyzed. Ethics review boards that were managed by a nursing college, school of nursing, or department of nursing all had a small number of committee members, many of whom were qualified with a nursing specialty. Most of the schools had an official ethics code. Forty-six schools (52.9%) had a budget for an ethics committee, 28 schools (32.2%) had a review system that continues even after a study has started, and 11 schools (12.6%) provided new committee members with a training course. Expedited reviews were performed at 50 schools (57.5%).
Conclusions: The present findings demonstrate the importance of the following considerations in ethics review in nursing research: organizing an interdisciplinary ethics committee with a pluralistic perspective; introducing an appropriate expedited review system and allocating a budget to reduce the burden on members; monitoring the progress of applicants’ research; and improving each member’s ethics qualifications.
