Safety in nursing social research

Background. Researcher safety is an important consideration in all areas of nursing social research. Risks to researchers' safety are multidimensional and manifest differently, contingent on the context of the research encounters. Aim. To review researcher safety issues in social research with special attention to nursing. Review focus. A small number of studies are used in this article, as examples, to demonstrate the range of researcher safety issues in nursing. Some preliminary suggestions to help ensure researcher safety are outlined: organisational culture, resources, a researcher safety lead, systems and procedures, education and training and insurance. Conclusions. There is a need to raise the profile of researcher safety issues in nursing for all involved, including researchers, students, funders and review committees. The article highlights the importance of nursing researchers writing reflexively about their safety. There is also a need for new nursing research to assess the nature and extent of safety issues. Taken together, these issues represent the starting point for establishing researcher safety guidelines and identifying good practice for the nursing research community. (C) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.