Consent In Nursing

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

Consent means to provide approval for something to happen or an arrangement to do something.

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.

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)

If a service user refuses to give consent in a work setting as a healthcare assistant I must document the refusal first and foremost in the careplan and also inform the manager next I would gently explain to the service user that they are full within their rights to refuse consent but I would like to also inform them of the risks,benefits and potential life threatening consequences that may follow their decision as a result. I would fully ensure that they have clearly understood the decision they have made and that they have also understood what I have explained and documented inluding all the reasons of how,when and why the care is provided for them specifically and what the medication is for also. Finally I would kindly ask if the service

Wolff (1970) defines a state as a group of persons who have the right to exercise supreme authority within a territory, over a population. He proposes In the Defense of Anarchism, men are autonomous, as higher degrees of autonomy is achieved, a man will resist the claim that states have authority over him. This illustrates the puzzle of Political obligation and can be explained through the appeal to consent.

Patient informed consent refers to the situation where the patient is fully informed on the consequences of their health care decision after which the patient gives the decision. For there to be informed consent, there are five elements that must be discussed. The first is the nature of the patient's decision then the applicable alternatives to the proposed intervention. Third are the risks, benefits and uncertainties associated with each of the alternatives. Fourth is the assessment of the patient's understanding and last is the acceptance of the intervention or an alternative by the patient. Before the patient's consent is considered to be valid, the patient's competency to make the decision must be addressed. The criteria for evaluating the patient's competency is clearly stated in section 3 of the 2005 Mental Capacity Act which states that provided the person is able to understand, retain and use information provided and to communicate their decision in any way such as talking or sign language, they are competent to make a decision. If a patient is treated against their refusal to consent, it amounts to the tort of battery or can also be considered the crime of assault. In addition to this, laws that touch on human rights reinforce the importance of the protection of the physical integrity of the individual in terms of their right to respect of their private life. Therefore, refusal of medical treatment is a human right.

Each person is an individual who can consent to being given medication and who is informed fully about the kind of medication they are going to receive. Their choices should be informed, with a doctor’s advice they can choose the best medication for their condition. They are allowed to refuse medication if they want to. Te carers have to be aware of all medication. They can review their care plan at any time if there is a health change. If the person is considered to be lacking the capacity to judge for themselves what kind of medication they receive, the Mental Health Act says that a professional can decide what kind of medication to administer.

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

Nursing practice implicates taking a person centred approach to provide effective care, which promotes all aspects of an individuals needs. Several issues influence nursing practice such as communication, consent, dignity, safeguarding and confidentiality. Consent is chosen as the choice of topic as it is to applied all fields of nursing practice. Consent is giving healthcare practitioners the approval to provide treatment. Consent is important in nursing practice as it forms the basis of care and recognises human rights

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 conclusion, some people think that patients should not have to give consent in order for them to have examinations and/or samples performed on them. Others believe patients have the choice whether there will be examinations and/or samples carried out on

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.