Obtaining IRB Approval for Nursing Research
Studies: What You Need to Know
Are you a BWH nurse who is interested in conducting a research study about a patient or nursing issue? Or do you plan to carry out a research study at BWH as part of the requirements for an advanced nursing degree? If so, you need to be aware of the regulations and guidelines that pertain to all research involving human subjects at BWH.
The Institutional Review Board (IRB), known as the Human Research Committee at BWH, is responsible for reviewing and approving all research proposals that will enroll people, require access to medical records, or use any form of human tissue, including blood and discarded body fluids. This includes all nursing research studies.
There are two reasons for IRB review. The first is to ensure that the study has scientific merit—that the research question must be an important one with the potential to make a contribution to health care and the methods to answer it must be rigorous enough to produce valid and reliable results. The second reason concerns the protection from research risks. The IRB must ensure that the rights of those who will be invited to participate will be adequately safeguarded and that the value of the study or its potential benefit is sufficient to justify the risks, discomfort or inconvenience to those who agree to be in the study.
The IRB judges nursing studies by the same standards and criteria as any other research study conducted at BWH. If you are interested in conducting research or must do so as part of your graduate education, make an appointment to see either Lucy Feild, PhD, RN, CS, (ext. 5374) or Carolyn Hayes, PhD, RN, (ext. 7659) both of whom are BWH nurse researchers and IRB members. The requirements for proposal development and the written consent form at BWH may be different from expectations of your faculty or school, and Lucy and Carolyn will provide consultation regarding nursing research proposal development and preparation of the IRB application.
—Lucy Feild