•  18
    Researching moral distress among New Zealand nurses: A national survey
    with V. Rodgers, A. Towers, and S. La Grow
    Nursing Ethics 22 (1): 117-130. 2015.
  •  34
    A Nursing Ethic: the moral voice of experienced nurses
    Nursing Ethics 6 (5): 423-433. 1999.
    Nursing acts occur in thousands of instances daily, being a major component of professional health care delivery in institutions, communities and homes. It follows that the ethical practice of most nurses is put to the test on an everyday rather than an occasional basis. Hence, within nursing practice there must be a rich and deep seam of reflective interpretation and practical wisdom that is 'embedded' within the experiences of every experienced nurse. This article presents discussion on some o…Read more
  •  55
    Research Ethics Committees (RECs) are frequently a focus of complaints from researchers, but evidence about the operation and decisions of RECs tends to be anecdotal. We conducted a systematic study to identify and compare the ethical issues raised in 54 letters to researchers about the same 18 applications submitted to three RECs over one year. The most common type of ethical trouble identified in REC letters related to informed consent, followed by scientific design and conduct, care and prote…Read more
  •  46
    Questions for debate
    with Steve Edwards and Stephen Humphreys
    Nursing Ethics 18 (3): 460-463. 2011.
  •  25
    Consistency in decision making by research ethics committees: a controlled comparison
    with E. Angell, A. J. Sutton, and K. Windridge
    Journal of Medical Ethics 32 (11): 662-664. 2006.
    There has been longstanding interest in the consistency of decisions made by research ethics committees in the UK, but most of the evidence has come from single studies submitted to multiple committees. A systematic comparison was carried out of the decisions made on 18 purposively selected applications, each of which was reviewed independently by three different RECs in a single strategic health authority. Decisions on 11 applications were consistent, but disparities were found among RECs on de…Read more
  •  18
    Two separate regulatory regimes govern research with adults who lack capacity to consent in England and Wales: the Mental Capacity Act (MCA) 2005 and the Medicines for Human Use (Clinical Trials) Regulations 2004 (“the Regulations”). A service evaluation was conducted to investigate how research ethics committees (RECs) are interpreting the requirements. With the use of a coding scheme and qualitative software, a sample of REC decision letters where applicants indicated that their project involv…Read more
  •  31
    Do research ethics committees identify process errors in applications for ethical approval?
    with E. Angell
    Journal of Medical Ethics 35 (2): 130-132. 2009.
    We analysed research ethics committee (REC) letters. We found that RECs frequently identify process errors in applications from researchers that are not deemed “favourable” at first review. Errors include procedural violations (identified in 74% of all applications), missing information (68%), slip-ups (44%) and discrepancies (25%). Important questions arise about why the level of error identified by RECs is so high, and about how errors of different types should be handled
  •  4
    ‘When morals and markets collide’: Challenges to an Ethic of Care in Aged Residential Care
    with Suzanne Phibbs and Chrissy Severinsen
    Ethics and Social Welfare 11 (4): 365-381. 2017.
  •  18
    A study of nurses’ ethical climate perceptions
    with Anne Humphries
    Nursing Ethics 23 (3): 265-276. 2016.
    Background:Acting ethically, in accordance with professional and personal moral values, lies at the heart of nursing practice. However, contextual factors, or obstacles within the work environment, can constrain nurses in their ethical practice – hence the importance of the workplace ethical climate. Interest in nurse workplace ethical climates has snowballed in recent years because the ethical climate has emerged as a key variable in the experience of nurse moral distress. Significantly, this s…Read more
  •  51
    Why women consent to surgery, even when they don't want to: a qualitative study
    with S. J. Williams, C. J. Jackson, A. Akkad, S. Kenyon, and M. Habiba
    Clinical Ethics 1 (3): 153-158. 2006.
    Although there has been critical analysis of how the informed consent process functions in relation to participation in research and particular ethical 'dilemmas', there has been little examination of consenting to more routine medical procedures. We report a qualitative study of 25 women who consented to surgery. Of these, nine were ambivalent or opposed to having an operation. When faced with a consent form, women's accounts suggest that they rarely do anything other than obey professionals' r…Read more
  •  40
    Abstract In the last few decades, a growing number of commentators have questioned the appropriateness of the 'justice view' of ethics as a suitable approach in health care ethics, and most certainly in nursing. Essentially, in their ethical deliberations, it is argued that nurses do not readily adopt the high degree of impartiality and objectivity that is associated with a justice view; instead their moral practices are more accurately reflected through the use of alternative approaches such a…Read more
  •  41
    In recent years, increasing pressures have been brought to bear upon nurses and others more closely to inform, involve and support the rights of parents or guardians when crucial ‘life and death’ ethical decisions are made on behalf of their seriously ill child. Such decisions can be very painful for all involved, and may easily become deadlocked when there is an apparent clash of moral ideals or values between the medical team and the parents or guardians. This article examines a growing number…Read more
  •  32
    The vast majority of research in nursing ethics over the last decade indicates that nurses may not be fully prepared to ‘deliver the good’ for their patients, or to contribute appropriately in the wider current health care climate. When suitable research projects were evaluated for this article, one key question emerged: if nurses are educationally better prepared than ever before to exercise their ethical decision-making skills, why does research still indicate that the expected practice-based …Read more
  •  86
    An Ethic of Care in Nursing: Past, Present and Future Considerations
    Ethics and Social Welfare 5 (3): 266-276. 2011.
    The purpose of this article is to re-examine an ethic of care as the main ethical approach to nursing practice in light of past and present developments in nursing ethics, and to briefly speculate whether or not it will survive within nursing in the future. Overall, it is maintained throughout that the terms ?caring?, ?nursing? and an ?ethic of care? are inextricably linked. This is because, it is argued, professionally focused nursing practices are based predominantly on a well-recognised moral…Read more
  •  15
    Case commentary: Baby John
    Nursing Ethics 18 (4): 613-613. 2011.
  •  5
    A Nursing Ethic: The Moral Voice Of Experienced Nurses
    Nursing Ethics 6 (5): 423-433. 1999.
    Nursing acts occur in thousands of instances daily, being a major component of professional health care delivery in institutions, communities and homes. It follows that the ethical practice of most nurses is put to the test on an everyday rather than an occasional basis. Hence, within nursing practice there must be a rich and deep seam of reflective interpretation and practical wisdom that is ‘embedded’ within the experiences of every experienced nurse. This article presents discussion on some o…Read more
  •  19
    Cultural safety and the socioethical nurse
    Nursing Ethics 17 (6): 715-725. 2010.
    This article explores the social and ethical elements of cultural safety and combines them in a model of culturally safe practice that should be of interest and relevance for nurses, nurse educators and nurse ethicists in other cultures. To achieve this, the article briefly reviews and critiques the main underpinnings of the concept from its origins and development in New Zealand, describes its sociocultural and sociopolitical elements, and provides an in-depth exploration of the key socioethica…Read more