The Belmont report commemorates an important milestone in the history of nursing research. The paper manifests the ethical rules and guidelines that are key to the nursing industry. For instance, the report gives guidance on the need for respect and justice for all (Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, 1979). In order to provide the necessary respect, the article points out that informed consent must be contained from owners of data to avoid risks of privacy violation. In fact, in exercises such as research, the report asserts that there is a need for getting consent from the subjects before publishing any private and personal data. The main purpose is to protect subjects and participants in clinical trials or research (Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, 1979). Additionally, data privacy protects patients from harm or ascertains that measures are taken to reduce risks and guide research plan that gives an important distinction between research and practice.
Beneficence is one of the key principles the report discusses. According to the report, beneficence is people treating everyone in an ethical manner, including respect of decisions, preventing causes of injuries, and offering a secure and safe environment for operation. In essence, beneficence is the kindness and flexibility of rules and policies to allow people to operate in a conducive environment (Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, 1979). Typically, there are two rules in the beneficence principle. The rules are not to cause harm to any person and offer maximum benefits to motivate operation and minimize injuries (Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, 1979). In effect, the protection of data privacy positively affects the researchers and the subjects. For example, when private information is kept confidential, subjects are motivated to participate in any study (Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, 1979). Therefore, it is the obligation of the researchers and study institutions to adhere to data protection guidelines to minimize the associated risks with personal information breaches.
Technologically, nursing needs Big Data to ensure data protection. The use of Big Data is key in information breaches because information affects privacy research and informed consent (Higgins et al., 2018). As such, Big Data reduces control over personal data and brings the possibility of a range of negative consequences, including access to personal data. For instance, people participating in the research may feel that researchers have violated their privacy without proper management of their data. Another effect is that dangerous people such as hackers may access important information about patients, therefore violating informed consent. In short, the Belmont report is a call for Big Data applications for protection.
References
Department of Health, Education, and Welfare. (1979). The Belmont report. Web.
Higgins, M., L. Simpson, R., & G Johnson, W. G. (2018). What about big data and nursing? American Nurse. Web.