This essay will introduce the concept of consent, briefly identify its types and legal fundaments, look at significance of consent in a healthcare provision and illustrate the main issues involved with patients’ consent with midwifery practice as the focal point of interest. According to Medical Dictionary (2003) ‘consent’ is an ‘act of reason’, voluntary agreement to proposed treatment made by a mentally capable person upon receiving relevant information. Patients’ consent is closely associated with individuals’ liberty, person’s autonomy and the right to decide about themselves and their body with assumption of taking full responsibility for decision and its consequences (Frith and Draper, 2004). Department of Health (2009) precisely defines types of consent: written, verbal and expressed non-verbally. The validity of consent does not rely upon the type; however, written consent may serve as evidence. For the validity of patient’s consent is essential to determine person’s ability to make a decision, give enough information and clarify if the information given is clearly understood. Consent is valid only when given ‘freely, without pressure or undue influence being exerted (…) from partners or family members, as well as health or care practitioners’ (Department of Health, 2009 p.11). There is no specific law covering consent issue; however, it is underpinned by different Acts and rules such as ‘The Code. Professional standards of practice and behaviour for nurses
There are a number of legal and ethical duties expected of nurses. Most of these involve care for patient’s autonomy and confidentiality despite the medical care. Failure to act regarding these can give rise to liability. One aspect of Patient’s autonomy involves giving or withholding his consent about treatment. This paper takes into account ‘consent’ as the aspect of law regarding nursing.
According to the Oxford Dictionary consent is defined as ‘giving permission for something to happen or agreeing to do something’. They define confidentiality as ‘entrusted with private information and if something is intended to be kept secret or in confidence’ (Soanes and Hawker, 2005). As a healthcare professional consent and confidentiality are in place as protective vices, by gaining consent and keeping a patients confidentiality it protects both the patient and the healthcare professional. There are three types of consent: Verbal consent, consent in writing and implied consent. Depending on the situation each type of consent may not be acceptable. For example if a procedure is putting a patient at risk, is complex or invasive for example an operation, written consent is
In their article, “The Concept of Informed Consent,” Faden and Beauchamp give two varying definitions of informed consent, namely sense one and sense two. Sense one is defined as autonomous authorization, meaning that the patient or subject agrees and then gives authority to move forward with a proposal (Vaughn 191). The authors give four conditions that have to be met for informed consent to be recognized: the patient has to understand the information presented to her, there should be no manipulation or coercion, and she has to intentionally give her authorization (Vaughn 191). Faden and Beauchamp also note that the fourth condition, where the patient gives her authorization, is pivotal in this sense since it differentiates autonomous authorization
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
Consent can be delivered in a numerous amounts of ways. It can be provided verbally, in script, or implied by behaviour or actions(Ruth Townsend, 2014).
When working with an individual it is important to uphold their rights to be fully involved in their own care, whilst adhering to legal requirements. It is also the individuals right to refuse any care, support or treatment they do not want. It is also essential that people not only give you their consent but also that they understand what they are consenting to and the implications of this. Gaining consent protects not just the career but the individual receiving the care and support as-well. If no consent is given then you cannot proceed with the care. It is illegal to pressure anyone into
This information must be easy for the patient to understand and must also be correct and truthful (RCN 2013). The Department of Health define consent as allowing a capable individual to make their own decisions about their health care without being pressured into making any decisions from others such as friends, family and health care professionals. In the adult nursing field it is legal and ethical to gain valid consent before starting a medical procedure, or providing care. This shows that the individuals rights have been respected which is good practice. If a healthcare professional did not respect an individual’s choices they could be accountable to legal proceedings. In common law touching or performing an act of care on a patient without valid consent can be classed as a criminal offence or battery. If a healthcare professional was not following the legal practice regarding consent then the individual may be faced with a criminal offence and disciplinary action will take place (Dimond 2009). The Human Rights Act states that all healthcare professionals should never judge an individual on their sex, race, religion, social origin, language or any other status.
Consent – Consent is required in written form from the parent or main care provider of any child before medication will be administered within the setting. This consent includes a signed and completed medication form detailing the type of medication, dose, route and when the medication must be administered. Where the child is able, they must also consent to receive the medication. Where the child is not willing to provide consent staff members may explain the need for taking such medication. If the child still
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.
This paper will critique a qualitative research study published in the Journal of Medical Ethics in 2004, By Dr Helen Aveyard, about how nurses manage patients who refuse nursing care procedures. The article explains how nurses view informed consent as not being essential to nursing care procedures.
Dimond (2009) and NHS choices (2016) explained consent as the process involving a person giving their approval to accept or refuse a treatment or interventions, after receiving detailed information from a health care professional about the risk or benefits of the procedure. In order for consent to be deemed valid, it needs to be given voluntarily without any influence or pressure from either a family member or clinician. In addition, the capacity of the person is important when giving consent and the ability to process the given information and make a decision. Tingle &Cribb (2014) agree, emphasizing that the autonomy of the person giving
Is it better to scrutinize the idea of consent on the fact that consent should be partially given or that we should be required to give full consent for all that we do? I believe that consent, in all of its importance should not always be fully mandatory. O'neill however did not believe this. He felt that full consent should be given at all times, whether it be hypothetical or actual consent. Throughout this response essay I will be talking about the two different types of consent in which O'neill's perspective is founded and I will also be telling why it is dangerous to follow this reasoning and why I do not agree with this point of view.
Consent can be quite tricky, a legal minefield for healthcare teams, this is due to the patients who will give or refuse to give private information about themselves who is legally competent but
In this case study, Pam as a sexual health nurse encountered issues regarding her 14 years old patient Taylah. Taylah’s school nurse her to see Pam about sexual related activity and Taylah travelled for two hours to see Pam. The issue involves Taylah being sexually active and having a complicated relationship with her mother and privacy and confidentiality. Consent is one of the major issue the nurse encountered and would reflect on Gillick’s competence rules which will be discussed further on. Nurse as a health professional have a duty of care to apply bioethics principles into their scope of practice which are; Autonomy, Non-Maleficence, Beneficence and Justice to let Taylah self-rule and make her own decisions, do to no harm which influences
Blackwell, w. (2014) states that we live in a society governed by an excessive extent of rules and regulations. Many of these rules apply to every individual within society for example rules relating to the use of public services; while other rules will focus and apply only to specific groups of individuals such as healthcare professionals. The aim of this assignment is to discuss the concept of consent in relation to the role of the nurse, with the purpose to demonstrate the ethical and legal implication of consent on nursing and professional practice.