Category: Nursing Role

After finishing the ethical conduct of research assignments and watching “Miss Ever’s Boys”, I feel that I understand the role of nurses in ethics a bit better. The movie really provided me with a good understanding of the infamous “Tuskegee Study” and how it helped evolve ethical principles. Nurse Eunice Evers was invited to work with doctors in a study to treat syphillis patients in Alabama. The study’s participants consisted of poor black men. It ended up turning into a twisted experiment where the patient’s are not even receiving treatment and are unaware of it. They are refused the right to get a Penicillin shot which was proven to be effective in treating syphillis during the duration of the study. Nurse Ever’s broke the nursing Code of Conduct by changing the study from the initial agreement without the participant’s knowledge and not offering a way out. This study ended with multiple deaths of participants which could have been prevented if Nurse Ever’s spoke up about what the study was actually doing. With that being said, nurses have an extremely important role in research studies because they have a responsibility to make sure that the patients are informed of all aspects of the study. It is important that we understand how ethical principles have evolved over time and why they have changed. With all the ethical practice and watching “Miss Ever’s Boys”, I now understand why ethics is so essential in nursing research and how it can affect our patients’. It is something that I will keep in mind when participating in research studies and treating patients as a future nurse.