I Do Grants

“The detective didn’t have a warrant, first off. And the patient wasn’t conscious, so he couldn’t give consent. Without that, the detective was barred from collecting blood samples — not just by hospital policy, but by basic constitutional law.” (Derek Hawkins, Washington Post)

There have been countless discussions raised by this event. But, the most basic question on the table is this: Is probable cause of a crime enough to revoke your right to consent?

First, I want to start with the definition of life. I need to start here partly because I was an English major and I have an absurd obsession with vocabulary, but mostly because it is so very important to fully understand this basic point. Life, in its most primitive and basic form is a heart beating. Two lungs expanding and collapsing. Oxygen in its infinite race with blood. A brain that understands light from dark, hot from cold, danger from safety. This is life. You are alive. You are awake. You are aware.

Life is not the choices someone makes. It is not what they decide to do with their time. It is not their level of education, their profession, or even how they choose to define right from wrong. It is not their gender, their sex, their height or their skin color. It is a breath. It is an open eye. It is the capacity to understand.

In this country, the right of a human being to live―to be alive, awake, and aware―surpasses every other thing.

Detective, I respect and admire your fight for justice. I know that you have a dangerous and difficult job—that you risk your life to protect me. I understand that it can be a thankless job, even a scorned and mistrusted position. I appreciate your fight for honesty. I appreciate you.

But nothing, not even a true and honest fight for justice, comes before a human being’s right to life—the physical and mental state of being alive, awake, and aware.  Nothing.

If that person is truly guilty, there will be another way to prove their guilt. You do not need to violate their right of consent when they are fighting for their right to live. There will be another day to fight this battle. Human life is more important than being right.

This is the essence of our country, and the reason why I choose to live in the United States of America. It is the reason why I work at a hospital. It is the reason why I choose to spend my time working in medical research. We as a people decided that a person’s right to life is most important. We have fought long and bloody wars (we are still fighting long and bloody wars) over this very belief.

So, I return to the question on the table. A question that so many people, so much smarter than me, have struggled with and have come to this same conclusion. Is probable cause of a crime enough to revoke your right to consent? The answer is no.

Human life is more important than being right.

How much time do you spend on the references page? How many tears have been wiped away in frustrated anger? Did the absence of a comma cost you?

I’ve recently come to know a citation management option called Zotero. The best part? It’s free. And it thinks like we do–you can tag and categorize different citations and form a ‘playlist’ of your favorite citations to make life easier.

Look at that, I used “citations” and “easier” in the same sentence.

It’s both Mac and PC compatible (crazy, right?) and there’s a button for your browser to make one-click additions easier than…well, pie. (Because if you’ve ever made a pie you know it’s not easy.)

So, check it out. Stop wasting time with whatever citation method you’ve come to hate, and check out Zotero: https://www.zotero.org/.

It’s not enough to make a new policy. Today, you must also activate “culture change” to ensure compliance. Daunting, I know. But not impossible. It means we need to rethink the way we roll out new policies and govern research.

Here are a few quick thoughts on who you need on your team to motivate a culture change through a new policy.

First, you need the connector who understands the innovation strategy and the need to engage the entire research team to promote the cultural change (Tucker). This is likely your office managers who can bring together their entire division to help adapt their mission to align to the new policy.

Second, you need the maven who will keep everyone honest (Tucker). This is the research coordinator who is highly knowledgeable and who understand the impact of the new policy on every project, and how to adapt the policy for every person in the division. Their knowledge is deep and they are capable of sharing knowledge with the team to inspire culture change.

Third, you need the salesperson with crazy mad negotiation skills to make others agree with them (Tucker). This is your administrative director who can easily motivate investigators and project directors into sustainable action. And who has the ears of higher administration to help negotiate the transition.

Lastly, you need the messenger who can deliver the details of the message far and wide (Tucker). The messenger is only as good as the message. According to Gladwell, the message needs a “stickiness factor” that makes it memorable. This means you cannot just hand out the new policy and expect wild results. We need to make the message practical and personal to create sustainable patterns and behaviors. The message should have personal meaning for our investigators with a practical reality, “I see a way to do it” that can fit into “my” life, and “a reason why it matters” (Tucker).

If you want to cause a culture change—a hospital-wide insane epidemic of culture change—you need to involve everyone and you need to foster a creative and inviting environment that is conducive to success. Good luck!

References:

• Tucker SJ, Carr LJ. Translating Physical Activity Evidence to Hospital Settings: A Call for Culture Change. Clin Nurse Spec. 2016 Jul-Aug;30(4):208-15. doi: 10.1097/NUR.0000000000000212.
• Gladwell M. The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference. Little Brown. 2000.