Ethics and nursing research: meeting the needs of indigenous peoples

Identifying an appropriate ethical approach to guide research with historically exploited peoples, indigenous or disadvantaged, places the nurse researcher in an unenviable position. Conventional ethical procedures may be appropriate for the predominant society and academia; however, these have the potential to further disable the aspirations and integrity of those who are the focus of the research. The present paper examines a number of ethical guidelines designed by and in collaboration with Australia's indigenous peoples. The guidelines of the National Health and Medical Research Council (1991) are used as the benchmark for the discussion as these are the most frequently referred to and used in the approval of nursing and health research. The concepts and approaches discussed may be considered in other contexts where nursing research is conducted with or about historically disadvantaged peoples.