Informed Consent Essay

Consent is defined by NHS Choices (2010) as: "the principle that a person must give

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).

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.

Another issue with the implementation of Informed consent arises when the patient waives the right to Informed consent and leaves the right to make the decision on the physician. Though legally correct, this can cause psychological stress for the physician especially when the decision is about a life threatening medical condition. Moreover, this also makes the patient vulnerable to abuse. (Manthous, DeGirolamo, 2003)

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

Nurses are always the front line care giver of patients. A review of literature of nursing ethics about informed consent has been performed. It strongly demonstrates the importance of informed consent and that nurses are the key players for the advocacy role to protect the patient’s right.

If an emergency is life-threatening, or the patient is not mentally competent to make a decision regarding consent, then the requirement may be waived. In a life-threatening situation, there may not be time to provide a patient with the risks and benefits of a procedure. If a surrogate is available to make a decision on behalf of the patient, such as a spouse or a parent, then they will often to be authorized to give consent. Otherwise, informed consent is presumed.

Informed consent is when a physician describes the treatment or procedures and the patient or the patient’s representative approves them. Implied consent is when a patient’s actions suggest obedience, such as when a patient pulls up his or her sleeve to receive a shot. Implied consent in submissive where as informed consent is more active when a patient is able to be more functional. In emergency situations however, consent by accident victims in

Healthcare professionals will be faced with ethical dilemmas throughout their career, particularly in the hospital environment. Having an education regarding professional healthcare ethics will provide some direction in how to best address these dilemmas at a time when either the patient or their family is in need of making decisions for themselves or their family member. It can be difficult for healthcare professionals to weigh professional protocol against their own personal beliefs and ethical understandings when determining critical care for their patient.

Life in the emergency room is can be fast paced, with decisions made by healthcare professionals who need to consider the basic ethical principles of non-maleficence, beneficence, autonomy and justice. These principles are resources designed and intended to provide a comprehensive understanding, guidance and rules of conduct to ensure an ethical and legal decision is made, regardless of the medical staffs subjective view of what is right and wrong (Tong, 2007, p. 7)

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

“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.

The author will analyse scenario 5 (appendix a) as he has no practical experience of Do Not Resuscitate Orders (DNAR) and believes this is an excellent opportunity to professionally develop himself in order to improve future patient care. This assignment will reflect, in relation to paramedic practice, on legal, professional and ethical frameworks whilst also considering interpersonal communication theories that impact on the delivery of care. Legal frameworks, including the Mental Capacity Act (MCA) 2005 and Human Rights Act (HRA) 1997, will be scrutinised alongside professional frameworks offered by the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC), such as the Standards of conduct, performance and ethics (2012). The impact of these frameworks upon duty of care, consent, capacity and best interests will be examined whilst various interpersonal communication theories will be explored, including transactional analysis and the influence of verbal and non-verbal communication. A conclusion will then be offered with well-supported reasoning for this decision.

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.