Introduction: Definition of consent
Consent represents a kind of an agreement that is defined between two or more parties and highlights certain capacities and freedoms that are preserved by that agreement. For instance, if a person agrees to something because they are coerced or under the influence of illicit substances, they will not be considered giving their consent (Tillman, 2020). Also, if a person cannot speak or move, they cannot give their consent either.
Consent in healthcare
Consent in healthcare relates to how the patient agrees to receive the given kind of treatment proposed by the practitioner, including all the required examinations and tests. The practitioner will be held responsible for explaining the situation to the patient and acquiring their consent regardless of the proposed treatment (Birch & Todd, 2020). From a mere physical examination to organ donation, consent is a follow-through process that lays the foundation for medical ethics and human rights. The capacity to make decisions should be preserved by the given patient in order for the consent to be given voluntarily. Thus, any external pressure should not interfere with the communication process. According to Kennedy et al. (2021), all the background information will have to be shared with the patient and their family in order for them to understand the potential outcomes of treatment and remain in charge of their lives. An informed decision is what defines consent in healthcare because a practitioner should never overrun a patient’s thought pattern.
Consent as an ethical backbone of healthcare
Consent is an ethical concept as well because patients have the right to remain knowledgeable and make well-considered decisions about their treatment plans. It would be unethical for a practitioner not to communicate their ideas to the patient and begin the treatment process right away (Noroozi et al., 2018). Hence, a patient-practitioner relationship might be either supported or hindered by the extent to which the given healthcare worker appeals to the patient and listens to their feedback. Consent also serves as an authorization for different interventions that might be borderline unethical (Tith et al., 2020). The lack of decision-making capacity should be one of the primary reasons for a practitioner to engage in more in-depth communication with the patient. The most important factor from the point of ethics is a patient’s ability to understand relevant information while also recognizing possible alternatives. Hamid and Fallon (2020) suggest that autonomy paired with effective provider communication create an ethically sound environment. It would also be ethical to document the consent in order to protect the practitioner from any unnecessary issues in the future.
Consent in nursing
In nursing, consent often precedes proper clinical judgment and working patterns. A thorough assessment of a patient’s health status helps nurses observe the most important points and decide – together with the patient – on an appropriate treatment plan (Shaker et al., 2018). Consent is the biggest contributor to clinical decision-making because nurses have to create enough room to address patient needs and interests as well. Being either intuitive or analytical, consent in nursing requires both patients and nurses to possess extensive knowledge of how different treatment plans might affect any given patient. It is important to remember that patient consent does not contribute to the quality of patient outcomes or the effectiveness of the chosen treatment plan. Person-centered care appeared as an attempt to follow all the ethical standards and preserve patient autonomy (Cornock, 2022). Consent can be expected to generate a holistic environment where patient needs are never ignored by providers.
Nursing code of ethics and patient consent
In the nursing code of ethics, the primary value to be considered is the concept of patient autonomy. A patient’s informed consent to a certain treatment is one crucial concept that can direct the whole treatment process because anyone can withdraw their consent in certain cases (Wu et al., 2019). An ethical approach to nursing requires constant improvements to be made to informed consent and the concept of patient’s ability to understand the information that is shared with them. The code of ethics also presupposes that informed consent is an outcome of patient-nurse-physician collaboration where all stakeholders are on the same page in terms of proposed treatment (Williams & Anderson, 2018). Accordingly, a nurse is going to be responsible for teaching patients to understand treatment-related information and engage in autonomous decision-making where necessary.
Sources of ethical disagreement related to consent
The first issue that can lead to a patient-provider disagreement is the lack of individual autonomy. According to Barone and Unguru (2018), informed consent has to be obtained in order to provide patients relevant information but the patient could become too dependent on external assistance. This would become an incorrect strategy to provide care because medical plans would lack depth and connection to patient needs. Another problem is unethical bias linked to the improper prioritization efforts carried out by nurses (Blease & Annoni, 2019). Decision-making should be a joint venture established by patients and providers where the knowledge possessed by the latter and autonomy displayed by the former create a perfect balance for an ethical agreement.
Ethical theories in nursing
Ethical absolutism presupposes that certain ethical rules are identical regardless of when and where the decision is being made. According to Pesut et al. (2020), the core ethical rights in care provision are security, liberty, and the right to life. Ethical relativism is a position that connects one’s morality to their inherent culture. In line with Arries (2020), societal majority is responsible for the development of moral norms that will define that community in the future. Ultimately, ethical pluralism is a theory that suggest that one’s personal views can differ from other definitions of “right” and “wrong” significantly (Inguaggiato et al., 2019). This is why international ethics encompass a variety of norms that are often diametrically opposite.
Conclusion
Consent is an essential element of human life because it delimits a person’s interactions and access to healthcare. It is crucial to reckon with ethics and informed consent because these two concepts lay the foundation for strong and well-informed care provision. There have to be additional efforts aimed at the popularization of informed consent and new ways of assessing patient exposure to unethical practices.
References
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