Confidentiality and Informed Consent

Before a counselling session starts it is important that the client understands confidentiality. To be able to understand this the counsellor must explain to the client that anything they say within the

Informed consent is the basis for all legal and moral aspects of a patient’s autonomy. Implied consent is when you and your physician interact in which the consent is assumed, such as in a physical exam by your doctor. Written consent is a more extensive form in which it mostly applies when there is testing or experiments involved over a period of time. The long process is making sure the patient properly understands the risk and benefits that could possible happen during and after the treatment. As a physician, he must respect the patient’s autonomy. For a patient to be an autonomous agent, he must have legitimate moral values. The patient has all the rights to his medical health and conditions that arise. When considering informed

The Doctor and Patient relationship aspect of Medicine has changed drastically in the last twenty years. It has evolved from paternalism (the doctor makes the decision for the patient) to shared decision making where the patient is considered an equal partner in his/her own health related decisions. Informed consent is the cornerstone for this view. When a patient or a research subject makes an autonomous decision after understanding, the risks and benefits involved with the decision is Informed consent. Complete Informed consent covers the following components: competency, disclosure, comprehension and voluntary. Competency refers to the requirement for the individual to be of legal age and be mentally competent to understand the process.

When it comes to counselors and psychologists, there's a code of ethics that influences whether they can reveal private information during a session. Patients also have the added protection provided by HIPAA. During the first visit to a new counselor, the person will be provided with papers that explain that your sessions are private except in certain circumstances. The HIPAA guidelines are actually the minimum level provided. In many states, there are stricter guidelines in place for those in the mental health fields. Patients have to feel safe during their sessions, or they won't share details with their counselor.

Midwives have a responsibility towards the woman throughout her pregnancy journey by promoting normality whilst acting as her advocate and maintaining her autonomy. The woman throughout the pregnancy continuum will undoubtedly have expectations of receiving good care where her preferences and any concerns which may arise are dealt with in a professional manner. This essay aims to explore key areas of care such as communication, obtaining consent, maintaining autonomy and confidentiality. This will show how the midwife utilises their ethical and professional knowledge to inform their practice to meet such demands.

Every patient has a right to decide on their own course of treatment and freely consent to that treatment. In order to make an educated decision they must be provided with the proper information to make an informed choice (Opinion 8.08 - Informed Consent, 2006). It is the physician’s legal and ethical obligation to provide this information when making their recommendation on treatment. The choices given must be in accordance with good medical practice (Opinion 8.08 - Informed Consent, 2006). The informed consent is the legal policy, either written or verbal, that gives full disclosure of all the information including potential risks that is applicable to the patient’s condition and treatment being offered (Kazmier, 2008).

Breaking confidentiality is a serious ethical component in counseling and must be considered very carefully before doing so. Each state has laws regarding the disclosure of confidentiality whether it to the courts, the clients, relatives, lawyers, schools, or other unbiased parties (Corey et al., 2015). It is very important that the therapist is aware of the laws in regards to disclosure of confidentiality in the state in which they practice to ensure that they are practicing in an ethical manner and to avoid any legal

The U.S. Healthcare System continues to evolve and develop delivery strategies of affordable high-quality health services to all individuals. Striving to make available superior advances in U.S. health, healthcare providers delivery options, solutions and/or treatments for the American populace.

Informed consent is supposed to show that the patient has been informed of the possible risks or consequences, typically for treatment they are agreeing to receive from a doctor. A person might be faced with giving informed consent in research settings, specialized treatments, and/or routine appointments with any health care provider. In the medical field physicians must obtain informed consent from every patient/patient representative in order to treat the patient without leaving themselves open to a lawsuit for negligence.

In particular nurses need to be aware that a signed consent form does not make consent informed. Rather it is the process of how the patient makes that decision, recognising the individual’s right to make choices for or against treatment and this should be based on the prudent patient and what they would want to know. This decision will be based on fact, risk and significance to their life. Nurse role during is one of information provider, supporter and advocate to enable patient achieve fully informed

Informed consent is an integral part of the medical process, but what is it? How can the principles of Informed Consent conflict with each other or with patient care? It is important to examine Informed Consent very carefully and explore how the principles of Beneficence and Patient Autonomy work with each other for the best interests of the patients, even if the patient is refusing some treatment that is important in the standard of care. However, it may be possible that Informed consent and these elements work against one another, and conflict with the best interests of the patient.

You bring up a very good point regarding health care ethics, which maintains that providers advocate for the best care of their patient. Informed consent requires that healthcare workers provide patients with “reasonable” information on their options for treatment (DeBord, 2014). Healthcare workers who intentionally withhold information about a relevant treatment option or who minimize risks and exaggerate the benefits of a procedure to a patient are engaging unethical behavior. I believe physicians must strive to provide informed consent to patient so as to have the patient be an active participant in their care. Author Kass, believes that medical ethics must respect patient autonomy, and I agree (Kass, 2001). Informed consent and autonomy

The informed consent process involves establishing the basic framework between a therapist and their client that serves as an ethical and legal requirement as well as the formation of a basic working partnership between a therapist and their client. The informed consent is essentially an informational exchange between a therapist and a client that outlines the process of therapy. It also allows the client to be informed of their rights in order to make conscientious and thoughtful decisions related to their therapy. An interesting fact about informed consent is that is it can be provided in written and oral form, or a combination of the two (Corey, 2013).

“Respect for human beings involves giving due scope to peoples capacity to make their own decisions. In the research context, this normally requires that participation be the result of a choice made by the participants” (NHMR, 2007, p.3).  Freegard 2012 (p.60), states that “respecting the rights of others,” includes a responsibility for Health professionals “to let others know about their rights” and that this forms the basis of an informed consent.

As a counsellor I have an obligation to follow professional standards and apply appropriate behaviour defined by mental health associations. The purpose of this is to prevent harm to clients as well as to define my own professional values.