Background Given the increased use of technology in health care, both in extent and application, the importance of understanding the ethical implications of new health technologies increases. Profound insight into the possible ethical implications of new health technologies enhances the research and development of such technologies and the likelihood of eventual successful implementation in clinical practice. Objective This study aimed to gain an understanding of how and if researchers focused on health technologies describe the actual or possible ethical aspects of their research findings. Methods An established framework for scoping reviews was used to guide the methodology. Studies published in PubMed over the last 10 years were included if they study or refer to ethics in relation to health technology as defined by established frameworks. In total, 14,532 articles were screened, 692 were retained for full-text evaluation, and 227 were included for data extraction. Results In total, 250 (80.9%, N=309) studies were conducted in North America and Europe; literature review studies were dominant. Most studies (52.9%, 120/227) had no direct reference to any of the 4 basic ethical principles: beneficence, nonmaleficence, autonomy, and justice. In cases where studies referenced ethical theory, consequentialism dominated. Conclusions When research about technology and ethics is published, the predominant focus is on its intent rather than its actual effect on patients. This lack of insight is problematic considering the vast advancement of technology in which ethics cannot keep up with understanding and offer insights on addressing ethical issues. This finding has implications for practice, research, and education.

BACKGROUND Embedding communication and surveillance technology into the home healthcare setting has demonstrated the capacity for increased data efficiency, assumptions of convenience, and SMART solutions to pressing problems, such as caregiver shortages amid a rise in aging people. The race to develop and implement these technologies within homecare and public health nursing often leaves several ethical questions unanswered. OBJECTIVE To evaluate how increased communication and surveillance technology use in home health care delivery affected the human relationships between clients and caregivers and disrupted the intuitive artistry of caregiving. METHODS This study used qualitative inductive content analysis to analyze 1,260 written responses from home health caregivers. RESULTS This study presents this shadow side in three main themes: digital dependence vulnerability, moral distress, and interruptions to caregiving. This study highlights the consequences of technology developers and health systems leaders unintentionally ignoring the perspectives of caregivers who practice the intuitive artistry of providing care to other humans. CONCLUSIONS This study presents this shadow side in three main themes: digital dependence vulnerability, moral distress, and interruptions to caregiving. This study highlights the consequences of technology developers and health systems leaders unintentionally ignoring the perspectives of caregivers who practice the intuitive artistry of providing care to other humans. CLINICALTRIAL The study was conducted according to ethical standards (World Medical Association, 2013)and was approved by the Swedish Ethical Review Authority (Dnr 2019-03263). The participants received written and oral information about the study and gave their written consent to participate

BACKGROUND Given the increased use of technology in healthcare, both in extent and application, the importance of understanding the ethical implications of new health technologies increases. Profound insight into the possible ethical implications of new health technologies enhances research and development of such technologies and the likelihood of eventual successful implementation in clinical practice. OBJECTIVE The objective of this study was to gain an understanding of how and if researchers focused on health technologies describing actual or possible ethical aspects of their research findings. METHODS An established framework for Scoping reviews was used to guide the methodology. Studies published in PubMed over the last ten years were included if studying or referring to ethics in relation to health technology as defined by established frameworks. In total, 14532 articles were screened, 692 were retained for full-text evaluation, and 227 were included for data extraction. RESULTS Most studies were conducted in North America and Europe; literature review studies were dominant. Most studies had no direct reference to any of the four basic ethical principles: beneficence, non-maleficence, autonomy, and justice. In those cases where studies referenced ethical theory, consequentialism dominated. CONCLUSIONS When research about technology is published, the predominant focus is on its intent rather than its actual effect on patients. This lack of insight is problematic considering the vast advancement of technology in which ethics cannot keep up with understanding and offer insights on addressing ethical issues. This finding has implications for practice, research, and education.