Elements of Informed Consent and Considerations of Duty Essay

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consent is critical to the ethical underpinnings of medical research and procedures in any field. Both verbal and written consent will be required in most situations, because "obtaining written informed consent from a potential subject is more than just a signature on a form," (UCI, 2014). It is our responsibility as health care workers to talk with patients, and be honest about the risks of procedures, their alternatives, and any information related to confidentiality and privacy. Informed consent should be considered more as a "process" than as a one-time event in which a patient signs a form (United States Department of Health and Human Services, 1993). The client, participant in research, or patient needs to be thoroughly debriefed in ways that are comprehensible and meaningful to them, in language they can understand. This is particularly important in situations where the patient and doctor speak different languages or come from different cultural backgrounds. However, clarity and brevity are critical for all patients.

According to Coons (2012), several components of informed consent processes ensure that patients are properly debriefed, and health care workers ensure the legal protection. Informed consent should include information related to potential discomfort or pain the patient might be experiencing during a process or procedure.

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The practitioner needs also to inform the patient of alternative processes or procedures, disclose risk factors, disclose level of expertise in that area, and let the patient know about issues like confidentiality and the collection of records. The informed consent process should also offer patients the opportunity to ask questions and receive honest answers. The UCI (2014) recommends taking informed consent a step further by asking patients questions to assess their intake and understanding of the information. Simply asking, "Do you understand?" can be helpful in ascertaining patient understanding.

It is important that forms are brief and simple because otherwise patients can become overwhelmed or even ignore the information (Coons, 2012). As a respiratory therapist, I have witnessed situations in which patients have not been adequately debriefed and could have created serious legal repercussions for our organization. In one situation, I noticed that the intake nurse was offering the forms to patients without any verbal interaction. There was zero attempt to ask patients if they understood what the form meant. Instead, the intake nurse simply handed over the forms and said, "please sign here." The patients generally do as they are asked….....

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