Masters - Ethical Framework

In terms of the ethics of the study I wished to carry out, there was first and foremost a duty to ensure that any nurse or patient record that has been involved in the study had their right to privacy and dignity respected – therefore research participants will simply be referred to a Participant One through to Participant Six purely on the basis of the order that I interviewed them in. It was seen to that they were dealt with in a sensitive and caring manner. These objectives were met in several ways, for example by ensuring names were given anonymously and leaflet/pamphlet details of counselling services being made available to the participants should they feel the need to discuss these, at times traumatic, lived experiences further. There was also, I felt, a moral duty to investigate an illness that is not fully understood and is also therefore difficult to treat. Initiating study and opening up discussion in this area is important to the illness eventually being understood and becoming treatable. Patients who experience pseudocyesis deserve to be advocated for in this sense. There is a Middlesex University Ethics Review submitted and approved for the research that has been carried out in this study (see Appendix).