Informed Consent Script for Participation in a Research Study

Hi, my name is Marissa King and I’m a professor at Yale School of Management in the Organizational Behavior Department. In partnership with the Emergency Department COVID Task Force, We are conducting a research project intended to understand teamwork and well-being related challenges facing frontline Emergency Department staff due to the COVID-19 crisis in order to help ED Task Force and ED Leadership better support frontline staff.

We are asking you to participate in a confidential survey because you are a frontline Emergency Department employee.  We expect the survey will take 3-5 minutes.

Participating in this research study is completely voluntary. You are free to decline to participate, to end participation at any time for any reason, or to refuse to answer any individual question without penalty. Your decision whether or not to participate in this study will not affect your relationship with the researcher or any organization. Refusing to participate will involve no penalty or loss of benefits to which you are otherwise entitled. Only individuals over the age of 18 can be included in the study.

You will receive no additional compensation for participating.  Your decision to participate, withdraw or not answer some questions will have no bearing on your employment or academic standing.  You can choose to skip any questions which make you feel uncomfortable.

 There is a slight risk regarding the confidentiality of your participation in this study, if information about you becomes known to persons outside this study.  To protect your confidentiality, your name and other identifying information will not be recorded on any study documents. Results will appear only in aggregated form and nothing will be attributed to any identifiable individual or specific identifiable unit. All data will be stored securely in a password protected folder on the researcher’s password-protected computers.

If you have any questions about this study, you may contact the primary investigator, Marissa King (646-573-3290; Marissa.King@yale.edu), Eleanor Reid MD (Eleanor.Reid@yale.edu) or Rohit Sangal MD (475-224-7879; rohit.sangal@yale.edu). If you would like to talk with someone other than the investigators to discuss problems or concerns, to discuss situations in the event that a member of the team is not available, or to discuss your rights as a research participant, you may contact the Yale University Human Subjects Committee, 203-785-4688, human.subjects@yale.edu. Additional information is available at http://www.yale.edu/hrpp/participants/index.html.