Scientific Merit Predicates Ethical Review of Clinical Research

Demystifying the Institutional Review Board

Perioperative nurses are responsible for generating and using evidence to improve patient care. To protect human participants during research activities, government regulations enacted after widely publicized research misconduct specify that institutions receiving federal funds must have an institutional review board (IRB) comprising at least five members. Board members have many responsibilities, including completing a thorough review of each section of the application and attachments (eg, consent documents). To expedite the IRB approval processes, applicants should create and submit a well-written application. Applicants should understand that the application addresses the important ethical concepts of respect for persons, beneficence, and justice. Quality improvement activities (ie, local activities that seek to improve patient care or clinical outcomes) differ from research activities that focus on creating new knowledge. Depending on the purpose, design, and generalizability of a quality improvement project, the applicant may need to submit the project to the IRB for approval.

Racial Myths and Regulatory Responsibility

Calls to abolish race as a proxy for biology or genetics in clinical care have reached a fever pitch in the latter half of 2020, including articles in the New England Journal of Medicine, and urgent letters from prominent Senators.