[Ethical behavior of nurses in their practices and in clinical medical research,. Part 1]

Providing high-quality nursing care implies to answer different questions pertaining to either technical or ethical features. Among these questions, two are studied more in-depth in the present paper. What is the ethical behaviour of French nurses when facing difficult clinical situations and how are they dealing with questions arising when clinical investigations are performed (both those directed by physicians but also nursing-led research). In this country, indeed, significant pressure from both court judgements and changes in the law now requires caregivers (and particularly nurses) to participate more actively in clinical decisions where an ethical dilemma arises. Have French nurses acquired the necessary tools to behave adequately in these situations and are they actually playing a role in daily ethical decisions? Nurses may be participating in physician-led research but also develop their own research. Which value do French nurses attribute to medical investigations and what is their perception of their role in physician-led research? Are they willing to lead their own research and what are the main barriers limiting their action? Two surveys performed at a two-year interval in Teaching Hospitals affiliated to the University of Paris and using a similar questionnaire were used to provide answers to these questions.