Ethical issues in ethnographic nursing research with children and elderly people

Ethical issues in ethnographic nursing research with children and elderly people The purpose of this article is to stimulate discussion on ethical issues in qualitative nursing research with children and elderly people. Both groups as informants of a qualitative study may need extra protection owing to their vulnerability. There are some references to these issues in articles dealing with nursing research ethics, but this subject is worthy of more debate. This article is based on the authors' experiences of working with informants in two ethnographic nursing studies. Especially difficult and important were those issues related to informed consent and the role of the researcher. The researcher has to respect the informants' humanity and ensure their autonomy, and be sensitive to their expressions and gestures in a reciprocal interaction throughout the research process.