Authors : Mamare Adelaide Bopape, Tebogo Maria Mothiba and Daniel Ter Goon
Abstract: Ethical standards must be observed in any research involving human participants. The researchers need to maintain the participant’s rights to privacy, dignity and confidentiality of information when conducting research studies. This study explores and describes knowledge and practices of undergraduate nursing students with regard to adherence to ethical principles when conducting healthcare research. A qualitative, explorative and descriptive study was applied, involving 15 purposively selected undergraduate nursing students at the University of Limpopo, South Africa. Unstructured one-to-one interview sessions were conducted until data saturation was reached. Data were analysed using Tesch’s open coding data analysis method. The following three themes and their sub-themes emerged during data analysis: nursing student’s knowledge about adherence to ethical principles when conducting healthcare research, the purpose of research ethics as viewed by the students and an outline of the important aspects included when obtaining informed consent. The study found that some students possess knowledge while others lack knowledge regarding adherence to ethical principles in conducting healthcare research. Thus, it is imperative to organise research ethics workshops to educate undergraduate students about the importance of and need to abide by ethical principles when conducting healthcare research.
Mamare Adelaide Bopape, Tebogo Maria Mothiba and Daniel Ter Goon, 2020. Conducting Healthcare Research: Do Undergraduate Nursing Students Understand and Adhere to Ethical Principles of Research?. International Journal of Tropical Medicine, 15: 31-35.