Table 2 Interview guide

I. Experiences when recruiting

 • What does it mean for you to work with care and research? (opening question)

 • Can you describe how you inform patients about a research study?

 • What factors do you believe affect patients’ willingness to participate most?

 • Do you think patients understand the difference between medical care and research?

II. Ethical issues

 • Have you felt on occasion that it would be unethical to include a patient, or ethical to exclude a patient?

 • Do you think there can be conflicts between personnel regarding care and research?

 • Have you met patients with unrealistic hopes for improvement?

 • Do you think patients want to participate in anything that they believe offers hope?

III. Strategies for dealing with dilemmas

 • Do you discuss ethical issues in your workplace?

 • Do you remember how you or any colleague successfully dealt with one?

 • Do you feel that there are obstacles in your workplace that make it difficult to act ethically?

 • Is there something in your workplace that makes it easy to act ethically?