Informed Consent Case Study

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

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.

De Bord, J. (2014). ETHICS IN MEDICINE University of Washington School of Medicine. Retrieved from https://depts.washington.edu/bioethx/topics/consent.html

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).

Obtaining an informed consent is a vital part of current health care. This document lists out several key pieces of information for both the patient, Provider, and the ancillary staff that also access the document during the procedure process. However, obtaining informed consent has not always been the practice norm and in research, informed consent carries different specifications.

The patient has the right to receive information necessary to give informed consent prior to the start of any procedure or treatment.

Delivery of excellent healthcare involves a multitude of dynamics including an extremely straightforward requirement of a patient’s permission for treatment or procedure. Informed consent, a patient’s authorization, consist of communiqué between healthcare provider or physician and the healthcare consumer, providing sufficient information allowing the patient to make a knowledgeable decision regarding healthcare treatment

Each of these four cases are issues regarding informed consent. Nurses do not consent the patient for procedures. However, they can assure that the patient understands the procedure. They can support and reiterate what the physician is stating. If there is any hesitancy, the nurse needs to document it and relay the information. The nurse is the patient advocate, so as the physician is explaining and describing the procedure, the nurse needs to be present. If the physician is unaware of the level of education, the nurse needs to communicate the level of education to the physician.

How does a doctor confirm or measure that his patient has sufficient information and enough education to satisfy the legal standards of informed consent? It would seem that this would be nearly impossible or extremely difficult at best, given that most patients have a very limited knowledge and understanding of medicine. The challenge for the doctor is to find the middle ground between providing not enough information and too much information. I will discuss the Canterbury v. Spence case (the most influential and prominent court

Informed consent in an ethical concept that all patients should understand and agree to the potential consequences of their care. This consent has a guideline that details the necessary details of its elements for it to be effective.

The principle of informed consent: A health care professionals must get consent from their patient before embarking on any treatment or surgery. It is the responsibility of health care workers to inform patients on treatment, procedure or surgery that wanted

A nurse’s professional accountability must be exercised by informing the patient of the risks, benefits and alternatives regarding their treatment. The nurse should deliver this information so that is understandable and individually tailored before obtaining consent. (NHS, 2014) The patient can then decide to accept or decline treatment. Subsequently if the patient agrees to their treatment this is informed consent (Advanced Nursing Practice Toolkit, 2014)

Informed consent, what is it and why do patients give it? Well, in the medical field a person must give informed consent before receiving treatment. But what does informed consent even mean? It can be hard to even understand what informed consent is and so this leads a person to wonder ethically if there might also be barriers that would prevent a person from giving informed consent. Could language be a barrier, for example can a medical professional “dumb” down a medical procedure enough for a high school dropout or for a child to understand the treatment being offered to them? While that might sound quite harsh the reality is that some medical patients are exactly that, high school dropouts or young children.

“The context in which the duty of risk-disclosure arises is invariably the occasion for decision as to whether a particular treatment procedure is to be undertaken. To the physician, whose training enables a self- satisfying evaluation, the answer may seem clear, but it is the prerogative of the patient, not the physician, to determine for himself the direction in which his interests seem to lie. To enable the patient to chart his course understandably, some familiarity with the therapeutic alternatives and their hazards becomes essential....”