Law of Tort on Trespass/ Assault/ Battery in Relation Patietnt Autonomy

Patients have the right to self-determination and individuals should have control over their own lives. With respect for human autonomy comes respect for patient rights. Apart of the nurses job is to promote, advocate and protect the rights, health, and safety of our patients. Patients have the right to determine their health needs, make informed decisions, and the right to information regarding their treatment and also the refusal of treatment. Nurses are obligated to know the rights of a patient and to make sure the patient understands their treatment plan. Supporting patient autonomy includes making decisions in the best interest of the patient, considering their values and recognizing differences between cultures. In the treatment

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.

The introduction of patient autonomy was a progressive and beneficial improvement to the operation of the health care field. The concept of patient autonomy was designed to protect patients from making decisions that would harm them. This concept ensures that patients are not forced by medical professionals to make life altering decisions. This clause also protects healthcare professionals from mal practice if their recommended health care plan does not go as planned. Patient autonomy should be considered as the central value in medical decision making as it introduces and enforces the concepts pf competency, shared decision making, and patient compliancy with healthy lifestyle recommendations.

Sule stated that, “The Patient Bill of Right adopted by American Hospitals Association states that ‘a patient possesses the right to be informed of the medical consequences of his or her actions and decisions and refuse treatment to the extent permitted by the law’. However, this is true only if the patient is in position to understand the consequences of his treatment. Incompetent, senile patients neither have the correct judgment regarding which treatment is appropriate for them, nor are they in a state of understanding the implications of their treatment. In such case, their willingness to grant or deny consent cannot dictate the course of treatment.” Problem with the Act is being able to find that the patient component enough to make such a call. Another issue that Sule stated was on confidentiality and autonomy. According to Sule, “This is another ethical issue erupting from the conflict of patient's rights and professional ethics in nursing job and profession. The Patient Bill of Right makes it mandatory for the medical practitioners to reveal the form and extent of the ailment along with the course of treatment to be undertaken by the practitioners. However, this law of autonomy clashes with the nursing ethic that the professional should maintain high degree of confidentiality regarding the patient's health and treatment.” This can cause conflicting issues in the NP’s

Autonomy includes three primary conditions: (1) liberty (independence from controlling influences), (2) agency (capacity for intentional action), and (3) understanding (through informed consent) (Beauchamp & Childress, 2009, p. 100). According to Beauchamp & Childress (2009) to respect autonomous agents, one must acknowledge their right to hold views, to make choices, and to take actions based on their personal values and beliefs (p. 103). Respect for autonomy implies thaturges caregivers to respect theassist a patient in achieving? Heed? the autonomous choices of their patients. From there, patients can act intentionally and with full understanding when evaluating medical treatment modalities. Autonomy also includes a set of rules, one of which requires that providers honor patient decision-making rights by providing the truth, also known as veracity (Beauchamp & Childress, 2009, p. 103). In this case, several facets of the principle of respecting autonomy, specifically veracity, informed

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.

To begin with the person is the centre of the plan, to be consulted with and their views must always come first: It should include all aspects of their care, and every professional should work together to provide it. (Leathard 2000) Autonomy refers to an individuals’ ability to come to his or her own decisions and requires nurses to respect the choices patients make concerning their own lives (Hendrick 2000).However Gillon Argues that the principle respect for autonomy may need some restriction, otherwise we may be morally obliged to respect an autonomous course of action with unthinkable consequences.( Gillon 1986) Every human being has an intrinsic value, they all have a right to well being, to self-fulfilment and to as much control over their own lives as is consistent with others (British Association of Social Workers 2002).Professional Judgement and patient preference cannot be suspended if practice is to be safe and effective rather than routine(DOH 2005) Alex had to attend this session as it was within his Timetable, how could it have been effective?, he was unhappy and

The author cites qualitative research articles and nursing education manuals and training manuals from many different authors and time periods. There were no quantitative studies cited. All research article referenced were relevant to the study, most were greater than seven years old and older. No evaluations of strengths or weaknesses were available for referenced material. The limitations of this study were named as: “data was exploratory, It was not the specific intention to explore the management of the patient who refuses care; the topic came from the inductive data analysis.(Aveyard, 2004, p. 349) It is relevant as this is a previously unexplored area of nursing.(Aveyard, 2004, p. 349) The author builds a logical argument through discussion of nursing education, and the fact that nursing education and the focus of informed consent in nursing education is on the nurse’s role in obtaining consent prior to medical procedures and research procedures, and not prior to nursing care procedures. The author uses the argument that the lack of discussion on informed consent does not negate its importance and it purpose which is to protect a patients autonomy .(Aveyard, 2004, p. 346)

This can include cases of perceived “pain-seeking” patients or “frequent flyers”. It can be difficult to treat those we see as trying to “use the system” for pure personal gain equally to those we may see as “truly ill”. It is important to remember to treat everyone in the same manner. Another important provision is provision 3. This provision states, “The nurse promotes, advocates for, and strives to protect the health, safety, and rights of the patient.” This means that nurses must always do everything thinking of the patient’s best interest first. This includes making sure they are fully informed before signing any consents for procedures and questioning any orders that may seem inappropriate for said patient. It is the nurse’s job to be the patient’s advocate and to always provide a safe environment for the patient.

Nursing is an all encompassing profession in which practitioners are not only proficient in technical medical functionality, they also have the obligation to remain compassionate and respectful of patients and as such are expected to adhere to pre established codes of ethics. Of these ethics, autonomy is of extreme importance as it offers patients a sense of personal authority during a time where they may feel as if their lives, or at the very least their health, is no longer under their control. Autonomy in the context of nursing allocates the patient and often their family with the final word on the course of treatment. The concept of patient autonomy is a highly variable subject in all fields of health care. It is a universal concept that varies widely in its meaning and interpretation. Autonomy in its simplest form can be defined as a state of independence or self governing (Atkins, 2006). Patient autonomy can also be defined as the ability to make once own decisions, based on one’s sound judgment. It is defined by the American Nurses Association (ANA, 2011) as the "agreement to respect another 's right to self determine a course of action; support of independent decision making." This seemingly straight forward ethical concept is rife with difficulties when one considers potential disagreements that may arise even when informed consent is provided, particularly among children or vulnerable people. Relevant research and

Patients are not obliged to undergo treatment because a healthcare professional feels it appropriate or considers he is acting in the best interests of his patient by treating him/her. Respect for individual's autonomy and the right to consent to or decline treatment are now generally accepted as important values in health care. Which was accredited in 1991 in the patient’s Charter. This gave people the right to have any anticipated treatment, including knowing any form of risk involved in the treatment and any alternatives, plainly explained to them as they retain the right to choose whether or not to have their bodily integrity interfered with, or damaged by others. Failure to gain consent is regarded in law as Trespass against the person and in breach of accountability under the NMC standard of conduct. If a patient is touched by a healthcare professional without consent, this constitutes a crime of battery in English law (Mason & Laurie, 2010). If a patient claims that he/she has not been sufficiently informed about the risks inherent in a treatment and alternatives to the treatment then liability does not lie in battery but rather in negligence. Battery refers to any non-consensual touching even if it does not harm the

Ethical principles for the registered nurse are autonomy. Autonomy is an individual’s right to freely make their own decisions. The registered nurse knows that a patient has the right to make his/her own decision about their care. The nurse will provide knowledge of all medical treatment, medications,

The concept of autonomy is of keen interest to health care providers, patients, and the entire nursing practice. The present drive of the heath care setting regularly requires a focused response in dealing with different health issues daily. Thus, autonomy affords a room for healthcare providers including nurses to use their judgments and to be apt in providing patient-centered care. Through a literature review, autonomy was examined as it relates to nursing, education, and science. A model case was employed to determine nurses’ perception of autonomy and understand how they develop and exhibit autonomy in their practice.

Autonomy applies to the profession of nursing because the patient should always be allowed to make decisions regarding their care while being treated with respect and dignity; however, autonomy can serve as a limiting agent when the patient decides to refuse care that would be of benefit to them. Autonomy is a sensitive issue because it allows the patient to choose to die and all health care can do from that point is allow the patient to do so comfortably. With healthcare always being one step ahead, it allows a surrogate to serve as a voice piece for that patient when they are unable to make decisions. However, that surrogate can end up making decisions they think is best for the patient ignoring the patients’ will. The responsibility of the nurse and interdisciplinary team is to inform and educate the patient and patient’s surrogate on all aspects of care to include medical diagnosis, treatment, and care plan so that the patient and

The fourth category is that of a trespasser. This category has radically developed in the last thirty years. Originally a trespasser was owed a very limited duty of care. The duty owed to a trespasser was that they could not be injured “intentionally and not to act with reckless disregard to their person or property”. The idea behind such a narrow duty was that a trespasser was illegal on the property and that the occupier should owe little