Research into the effectiveness of epilepsy specialist nursing needs to take into account a number of factors, which have not been adequately addressed in previous studies. Nursing outcome measures are different to medical ones and it is inappropriate to confuse these. Specialist nurses affect the whole culture of a service, and their impact on service quality may go beyond that of their indivi...

Background Informed consent is an important part of the patients’ rights and hospitals are assigned to obtain informed consent before any diagnostic or therapeutic procedures. Obtaining an informed consent enables patients to accept or reject their care or treatments and prevent future contentions among patients and medical staff.   Methods This survey was carried out during 2011-2. We assessed...

PURPOSE Little is known about how patient education and emotional support is provided at abortion facilities. This pilot study documents 27 facilities' practices in this aspect of abortion care. METHODS We conducted confidential telephone interviews with staff from 27 abortion facilities about their practices. MAIN FINDINGS The majority of facilities reported they rely primarily on trained ...

CMAJ, November 22, 2011, 183(17) 2019 Why did this article include testimonials that had no credibility apart from being against ECT? Does CMAJ include the opinion of ideologues when discussing other medical devices or treatments? ECT is a life-saving and highly effective procedure for which there are clear guidelines. The Canadian Psychiatric Association stands by its stated position that “ECT...

In Vasterbotten County in northern Sweden a start-up biotech company has recently gained all commercial rights to one of the worlds largest population based research biobanks. The biobank and the company have publicly emphasized that all donors have given their informed consent to participate, but within the academy it has become debated whether people have been adequately informed. Based on an...

VARIATION IN HOW INFORMED CONSENT comprehension tests have been developed may be largely due to the absence of a standardized construct definition. Developing a construct definition would provide a standardized framework for determining how an instrument should be constructed, implemented, interpreted, and applied. Therefore, we utilized the Delphi consensus approach with an international exper...

(2) The following: (i) The research presents a reasonable opportunity to further the understanding, prevention, or alleviation of a serious problem affecting the health or welfare of pregnant women, fetuses or neonates; (ii) The research will be conducted in accord with sound ethical principles; and (iii) Informed consent will be obtained in accord with the informed consent provisions of subpar...