Journal of emergency nursing : JEN : official publication of the Emergency Department Nurses Association
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Although they are not totally without controversy, proxy consent and prospective consent are generally condoned as being legally and ethically acceptable alternatives to traditional informed consent by the majority of IRBs and researchers. Deferred consent, on the other hand, continues to fuel a heated debate in the emergency research community. Detractors believe that deferred consent is nothing more than unauthorized experimentation on a vulnerable population. ⋯ Nurses in emergency settings, whether researchers or associates, must understand the informed consent process to ensure that adequate steps have been taken to safeguard the patient and his or her rights. Yet they must also appreciate the precautions that have been taken, and the difficult decisions that have been made, by an IRB before an emergency research study is approved. By understanding the consent process, emergency nurses can become more fully informed research participants, ensuring that the rights of the patients have been protected, while working to advance medical science through legally sound, ethically proper, clinical investigation.
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About one fourth of physicians report having received training on domestic violence. The purpose of this study was to determine the response of the ED house staff to an educational program on domestic violence against women. The research questions in this study were as follows: (1) What training topics did the house staff rate as most important and relevant to their practice? (2) What topics did the house staff rate as most useful to their day-to-day practice? (3) What were the house staff's attitudes and beliefs before training? (4) Did the method of training on domestic violence influence the house staff's attitudes and beliefs? (5) What were the house staff's perceptions in terms of sociodemographic variables? ⋯ The major conclusion of the study was that the house staff had a positive response to training on violence against women. Sixty-five percent of the house staff had no previous training on domestic violence. Implications for practice include continuing education and research on domestic violence training in the emergency department.