Nursing and Consent

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

The process of establishing consent will vary according to an individual’s assessed capacity to consent.

The aim of this essay is to presents a critical analysis over the nursing dilemmas around capacity and her limitation by presenting example from the author’s practical experience. The names of the patients will be replaced with pseudonyms for confidentiality purposes according to the Nursing and Midwifery Council NMC(2015) Code of Conduct. Consent is often misunderstood. Mental Capacity is a complex topic and often health professionals tend to provide treatment which may be in the patient 's best interests but not always in accordance with his will and preferences thus adhering to Personal-Centred Approach. Further will be discussed Assessment of capacity and risk assessment, The Principle of Best Interests, Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards(DOLS), accepting Advanced decisions if they are in place. Moral and ethical considerations asociated with mental capacity will be presented throughout the essay.

The clinical problem being examined in the research study is the way in which nurses obtain consent prior to administering nursing care procedures, and the way nurses manage patients who refuse any nursing care procedures. By stating that nurses “do not

Mostly all nursing actions are an invasion of a person’s privacy and giving consent is carried out by going into the hospital or being treated at home. So one can say that consent is based on the principle of respect for a fellow human being.

The Human Rights Act 1998 upholds the person/patient rights to make decisions on whether to accept or decline treatment ("UKCEN: Ethical Issues - Consent", 2016).

It is a basic principle of law in this country that an adult, mentally competent person has the right to refuse treatment. The court of appeal has emphasised that provided the patient has the necessary mental capacity, which is assessed in relation to the decision to be made, then he or she can refuse to give consent for a good reason, a bad reason or no reason at all (Dimond, 2008). However, in this case it is in the best interest of the patient that the MDT administrated medication covertly. The legal issue identified in this case relates to the issue of consent. Within the case study professionalism had to challenged when it came to the capacity of the patient. The MDT had to resolve the legal issues associated with capacity and consent.

The research was conducted to explore the issue, and ethical principles presented. Personal ethical viewpoint was given along with professional examples. The work was actively discussed with classmates and received compliments. In the Case: Lack of Consent and Patient Death physician’s failed to obtain the consent from the patient. The failure resulted in inappropriate procedure, which led to the patient’s death (Pozgar, p. 1243, 2012). The work included my opinion regarding court’s decision, analysis of ethical and legal dilemmas, analysis of failed hospital’s ethical duty to the patient, and personal intake for “What would I do” situation. I chose to present this piece of work as my exemplar as this module incorporated all aspects of the course, and included ethical and legal concepts from contemporary issues in nursing we studied for the duration of the

Dimond (2016), notes the right to refuse is a basic principle of law in the UK of which the court of appeal has emphasised that providing the patient has necessary mental capacity they can refuse to give consent for a good, bad or no reason at

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.

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

(1.1) In the healthcare profession various dilemmas can be encountered, sometimes everyday that put a professional in a position where they must make certain choices that can be classified as difficult or complicated depending on the individual or the situation. In the nursing profession not only do they have to consider the welfare of the patients but they also have to regard their wishes, which may create a conflict of interests in regards to promotion of well-being which would lead to the importance of informed consent. Respect for a person 's autonomy as well as respect for the individual are essential requirements; however so is promoting public interest.

.This assignment will address issues associated with consent that influence nursing practice. Throughout this assignment, there will be the analysis of consent in two nursing fields, comparison of the two fields and reference

For consent to be valid it must be voluntary, informed and the patient giving it must have the capacity. This decision must be made by the patient and not influenced by the medical staff or members of

Nurses are subject to a plethora of legal, ethical, and professional duties which can be very challenging on a day to day basis. Some of these duties include respecting a patient 's confidentiality and autonomy, and to recognize the duty of care that is owed to all patients. As nurses our duties are always professional; however there are legal implications if these duties are breached. We also must consider when it is okay as nurses to breach these duties and therefore ethical issues arise. As nurses one of our main priorities is to advocate for our patients, without our own personal feelings on the matter taking over.