The Importance Of Informed Consent In Health Care

In the study “Assessing the quality of informed consent in a resource-limited setting: A cross-sectional study,” researchers investigated the process of obtaining informed consent in clinical and public health research. The method of the study utilized interviews, in which research participants were asked a series of questions after they had been through informed consent procedures. 600 participants were interviewed, and the results show that 5.9% believed that they were not given enough information before deciding to participate. Only 5.7% of the participants said that they had not signed a consent form before making the decision to participate. Interestingly, 33.7% reported that they were not aware of their power to withdraw from participation

Gaining consent before providing care or treatment to any patient is very important because patient requires

Consent falls under the umbrella of autonomy. Autonomy is respecting the patient's right to decision making based on his or her own judgements and evaluations. As a dental hygienist it is essential to always provide the client with the understandable information about their care and treatment options and obtain their informed consent before beginning any services. Implied consent is when the client shows up for the appointment and only applies to permission granted for information gathering. Any other services that have to be rendered require informed consent. Informed consent must never be assumed. On the other side of the spectrum, informed refusal is the patient's right to deny any of the services recommended. From a legal standpoint, it is important to always document informed consent and refusal to avoid any legal

Informed consent is defined as the knowledgeable and voluntary agreement given by a patient. Informed consent protects patient autonomy and endorses trust between the medical community and the patient. If a patient knows that they are lied to, or not told the entire truth, the patient will lose confidence in the medical community as a whole (Eval, 2011). If this non-education does happen, then the patient will not be able to make choices about the end of their life, medially or financially (Piper, nd). Personal integrity is gained when informed consent is used, as the person is making their own choices, not having their family or others make choices on their behalf, when the patient is excluded for the education of the disease (Eval, 2011).

Informed consent gives a competent patient the freewill to make his decisions about his health after getting informed adequately about the procedure, its alternatives, pros &cons and uncertainties related the procedure and its alternatives. Above all the patient’s consent must be voluntary and without any kind of pressure whatsoever. There are few fundamental question

In a healthcare setting obtaining consent is essential before beginning a procedure or treatment (Koutoukidis & Hughson, 2012). In order for consent to be obtained it must be given voluntarily, cover the intervention about commence, the person must have legal capacity, and they must be sufficiently informed about the intervention. Consent may be withdrawn at any time, and if a health care practitioner acts without the consent of the patient, they may face assault and battery charges. (Koutoukidis & Hughson, 2012). An advanced care directive is a a legal document used by someone to dictate to others what choices they would like made in the event that they lose their ability to make these decisions themselves, or to appoint a nominated person to make these choices for them; if for example they are in a motor vehicle accident and suffer serious cerebral injury. These decisions include those relating to future health care, end of life care, personal arrangements and living arrangements, but not financial matters. In the event of a serious health issue, if the person has signed the advanced care directive, dictating that they refuse health care and it is directly relevant to the situation, then it is legal binding. All other aspects of the advanced care directive are only recommendations to the nominated person and/or the health care team (Advanced Care Directives - SA

Faden and Beauchamp discuss two definitions of informed consent, which are labeled sense1 and sense2. First, sense1 informed consent is defined as “autonomous authorization”. (Vaughn, p. 191). The key aspect of sense1 is that the patient has the autonomy to consent, or refuse consent. Faden and Beauchamp state four defining characteristics of sense1 informed consent: complete understanding of the consent, individual desire for the consent, intent to consent, and authorizing consent. (Vaughn, p. 191).

Medicine has changed in ways over the years that one might have never thought twice about having anything like that happen to them. People today have increased their knowledge overall about their health situations and how to treat themselves. Patients are stepping up and making decisions about their healthcare choices each day with physicians. And in this process it has turned out to be so important for people to understand what is truly being done before medical treatment is given. We have talked this semester about informed consent and how important it is that our patients understand the meaning of what they are having done. We need to be able to understand what the nature of the procedure is and what it details. It’s also good to discuss other types of alternatives. Informed consents can also bring up certain topics about the risk that can be involved with the procedure. As healthcare professionals it is part of our job to help look after the patient and make sure that all legal documents are in order. Sometimes when patients come into the hospital it can be difficult at times for them when they are feeling bad in knowing exactly what is going on. There are cases where it’s

Informed consent is the agreement of a patient to undergo specific tests, procedures, treatments, and so forth; the disclosure of any risks and/or benefits of the treatment/procedure as well as any possible alternatives and the risks and/or benefits of such alternatives must be discussed by the healthcare professional to

Physician-assisted death is the practice in which a physician provides a mentally competent patient with the means to take his/her own life, usually in the form of prescribing death-dealing medications. It first became legal in the United States in Oregon in 1998. It is now legal in four other states: Washington, California, Montana, and Vermont. In order for one to exercise their right to die this way, the law states that the patient must be at least 18 years old, be mentally competent, be diagnosed with a terminal illness that will lead to death within six months, and must wait at least fifteen days before filling the death-dealing prescriptions. This controversial practice has raised the question of whether or not it is ethical for a physician

“Simple Definition of medical informed consent a formal agreement that a patient sign to give permission for a medical procedure (such as surgery) after having been told about the risks, benefits, etc. Full Definition of informed consent consent to surgery by a patient or to participation in a medical experiment by a subject after achieving an understanding of what is involved.” (merriam-webster Dictionary)

Counselors must be aware of their ethical and legal obligations when providing counseling services, such as those related to crisis prevention and intervention. This knowledge can guide the counselor in making appropriate decisions to best assist the client. The American Counseling Association Code of Ethics (2014) provides counselors with the core principles of autonomy, nonmaleficence, beneficence, justice and fidelity to guide them in decisions making. Furthermore, the following ACA (2014) ethical codes are applicable to crisis counseling:

For instance, the practitioners are obligated to constantly inform the participants about plans that pertains to interventions (Reamer, 1987). In addition, it is essential for informed consent to include the following: “What is done, the reasons for doing it, clients must be capable of providing consent, they must have the right to refuse or withdraw consent, and their decisions must be based on adequate information” (Kirk & Wakefield, 1997, p. 275). One of the most dehumanizing incidents that occur is the researchers prohibit the participants’ self-determination. For example, the men were compliant with receiving treatment and to be examined by the physicians. However, the physicians did not reveal the actual purpose of the study. Consequently, penicillin was the most effective medication, but the doctors decided to withhold treatment (Bozeman, Hirsch, & Slade ,

Provision of Treatment requires patient’s choice and informed consent. Even if a patient has signed a general consent clause, the patient can still refuse medical treatment or procedures. However, in exceptional or emergency situations a doctor may be legally justified in performing surgery or providing treatment without the patient's consent. The patient should be competent and capable of making such a decision to give a consent. People under the age of 16 are not entitled to consent to medical treatment. However, exceptions may be made if hospital staffs are satisfied that patients are mature enough to make the decision for themselves.

Medicine is a practice based on moral standards applied to clinical values and judgments, also known as medical ethics. Ethical values consists of beneficence, nonmaleficence, autonomy and justice. However, these ethical principles are affected when distributive justice and rationing of health care resources are implemented “…in a world in which need is boundless but resources are not…” (Scheunemann & White, 2011, p. 1630).