Patient Informed Consent

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.

21. Report any unusual or major changes in your patient’s health, cleanliness, physical care, actions and

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.

Healthcare Consent legislation applies to everyone above the age of 18 (some places 16) and has the following rights (Ref 1)

The standard of care is the attention you would give to any one of your patients in similar situations. A patient’s best interest is the only one to be considered. An appropriate standard of care would be reached in this case study if you would treat her emergency situation as you would any other, regardless of circumstance and act on that accordingly. There should be no favoritism of judgment in your standard of care. (Caldwell & Connor, 2012, pg. 27).

The two ethical violations exhibited by the worker in this case are; informed consent and competence.

Informed consent is commonly obtained from patients for medical treatment procedures and protocols. While it may serves as a litigated protection and assurance for healthcare professions to confidently perform their duties as healthcare providers, informed consent also ensures patient’s understanding and acknowledgement of their involvement in multiple medical interventions pertaining to their health. As the patient sign these consent documents, they might be unaware of the existence of uncertainty in medical practice. Medicine is the evident of probability because we are not physiologically created equal. Therefore, medical uncertainty is inevitable and physicians have to face tough choices to make a decision they believe to be in patient’s

Do patients read the Informed consent form?Ethics in Healthcare require patients to sign an informed consent. Many patients do not read the informed consent because they assume to know what awaits them, for instance, a patient waiting to go for operation bothers not to read because they will still go for the operation. The assumptions by health care providers that all know to read also make patients sign without knowing what is in the document while others do not understand the terms used. Finally, patients do not read this forms, especially during emergency situations since they do not have enough time to seek for the second opinion or go through the entire document.The Cordasco, (2013) notion that “an informed consent verifies that the provider

Health care professionals are obliged by common law to obtain consent before any medical treatment is given to a patient. Every person has the right to decide what happens to his or her body, therefore, can choose to accept or refuse medical treatment (Townsend & Luck, 2013, p. 93). This article aims to outline what is determined as lawful consent and how it applies in paramedic practice.

Steps are taken to maintain the confidentiality of data through digital signatures by the personnel and through the computer security assurance using the key coding and unlinking of the data.

Informed consent, by definition, requires the administering health care provider to disclose appropriate information to a competent patient, and allow that patient sufficient time to choose, voluntarily, whether to accept or refuse treatment (Appelbaum, 2007). For children, the law upholds an inability to provide their own informed consent as they lack the decisive ability inherent in consent (Appelbaum, 2007). Thereby, for children, a proxy, as determined by the state laws, chooses the course of treatment on their behalf (Appelbaum, 2007). Furthermore, for children of, an undesignated, reasonable age, a consultation about assent, or willingness for acceptance of treatment or care, should follow a guardian’s decision (Appelbaum, 2007). Responsibility

There are different types of consent that can be gained by individual for a treatment to be carried out, for example, expressed consent can be given either written or in a verbal form (Tidy 2016a). Verbal consent can express through words, for example, agreeing for a blood pressure measurement to be taken (Farlex, 2003). Written consent is a legal documentation through the individual’s signature stating that they comply with treatment. Implied consent is the assumption that the patient concurs with the treatment as they haven’t denied it (NHS Scotland 2016). If a patient is unconscious there is no information or statement nearby to suggesting a decline of a treatment e.g. Religious reasoning for not taking a blood test, health professionals

Constantine A. Manthous’ article Counterpoint: Is it Ethical To Order “Do Not Resuscitate” Without Patient Consent? looks at the issues of withholding life-sustaining therapies, such as CPR, in cases where these therapies will only prolong the suffering of the patient. Manthous begins his argument by stating that CPR, which is often ineffective, remains the only medical procedure in cases of cardiac arrest. Manthous goes on to state that a doctor issuing a “Do Not Resuscitate” order unilaterally is unethical, as it deprives the patient of their right to self-determination. Only after receiving informed consent from the patient is the issuance of a DNR order ethically appropriate.

Informed consent is a formal agreement that a patient/member signs to give permission for a medical procedure or program after an explanation of risks and benefits are given to the patient/member (Merriam-Webster.com, 2015). Another definition for informed consent is, “tenet requiring that competent patients, who are free to consent, be sufficiently informed and be the principal decision makers in their own care” (Brannigan, 2001).

According to According to (Gerald, Corey, Schneider, & Callanan, 2015) “Informed consent involves the right of clients to be informed about their therapy and to make autonomous decisions pertaining to it” (p.154). Section B of the ASCA National standards for School Counselors states “Recognize that providing services to minors in a school setting requires school counselors to collaborate with students’ parents/ guardians as appropriate” (pg.6). Since I will be working in the school system. I have to be aware that parents and guardians are heavily involved with the student’s school counseling experience.