Consent Form
Information for Participants the Graduates' e-cohort Study
Dear Potential Study Participant,
Welcome to the Graduate e-cohort study. Please take your time to read about the research collaborators, the Principal Investigators and the purpose of the study on the Graduate e-cohort website. If you are choosing not to continue practising as a nurse or midwife this year we would still like you to consider participating in the study. We are also very interested in following participants who leave the nursing and midwifery professions.
The Graduate e-cohort is a five-year longitudinal study the aim of which is to examine factors associated with workforce outcomes in successive cohorts of graduate nurses and midwives within Australia, Canada and New Zealand. The study will provide important information to inform education and workforce policy for the nursing and midwifery professions. Study outcomes will also focus on factors influencing the retention of nurses and midwives in the health workforce.
From 2009 until 2013, all graduating nurses and midwives, as well as past graduates, from The University of Queensland are being invited to participate in this longitudinal study. All graduating nurses from Auckland University of Technology, Massey University, the University of Auckland, and L’Université de Montréal are also invited to participate.
Your participation in this study involves completing an electronic survey each year for five years. The survey should take no more than 15 minutes to complete. When you consent to join the study and be contacted for the follow-up surveys, you will be automatically directed to the first (baseline) survey. As we need to track participants over time, it is important that your contact details remain accurate so we update these regularly. We will try contacting you by mail and SMS if unable to reach you by email. These details will be archived and only available to me – the Study Director – and my nominees who have all signed confidentiality agreements. When you complete the survey you will be assigned a study ID to link your responses over time. All investigators working on the study will be given de-identified results to analyse and any publications that arise from the study will include aggregate, not individual data. All data will be maintained on secure, password protected computer servers at The University of Queensland. They will be retained for five years from the completion of the study and publication of results.
Participation is voluntary and you may withdraw without prejudice at any time. Feedback will be provided to participants through an annual electronic newsletter that will be emailed to you. Other reports or publications will be posted on the study website as they are published or produced.
This study has been cleared by the Behavioural and Social Sciences Ethical Review Committee of The University of Queensland in accordance with the National Health and Medical Research Council’s guidelines. You are free to discuss your participation in this study with me – the Study Director - or another project staff member:
For University of Queensland graduates: If you would like to speak to an officer of the University not involved in this study, you may contact the Ethics Officer on 61 7 3365 3924 or humanethics@research.uq.edu.au
For L’Université de Montréal graduates: If you would like to speak to an officer of the University not involved in this study, you may contact the Ethics Officer on 61 7 3365 3924 or marie-france.daniel@umontreal.ca. If you wish to speak to the principal investigator, you may contact Professor Francine Girard, dean, tel: 514-343-6436, email: francine.d.girard@umontreal.ca
For Auckland University of Technology graduates: When communicating with AUTEC about this application, we ask that you use the application number and study title (Ethics Application Number 08/254: The Graduate e-cohort study) to enable us to provide you with prompt service. Should you have further enquiries regarding this matter, you are welcome to contact Charles Grinter, Ethics Coordinator, by email at charles.grinter@aut.ac.nz or by telephone on 921 9999 extension 8660.
For Massey University graduates: This project has been reviewed and approved by the Massey University Human Ethics Committee: southern A, Application 08/51. If you have any concerns about the conduct of this research, please contact Professor John O’Neill, chair, Massey University Human Ethics Committee: Southern A, tel: 063505799 extension 8771, email: humanethicsoutha@massey.ac.nz
For The University of Auckland graduates: This project has been reviewed and approved by the University of Auckland Human Participants Ethics Committee on 12/11/08 for (3) years, Reference number 2008/440. For any queries regarding ethical concerns you may contact the Chair, The University of Auckland Human Participants Ethics Committee: Telephone 09 373-7599 extension 83711.
If you would like to become a participant in this study please complete the consent by clicking on 'Agree' and you will be directed to the survey.
Please print out this information page if you will need it for future reference and retention.
Yours sincerely,
Professor Catherine Turner |