Issues on Patient Informed Consent in Operating Procedures

In the United States, the affected role Self-Determination Act "mandates that hospitals ensure that a enduring's right to discombobulate health care decisions is upheld" (Golanowski, 1995, p. 10). The patient's right to autonomy in health care includes direct style procedures affecting the patient.

Except in emergency care situations, a patient being wide-awake for a surgical procedure will be asked to support a consent form (Brahams, 1993, p. 361). This form includes typically includes consent for the surgeon to perform additional procedures "as the surgeon thinks incumbent" based upon conditions that may be discovered during the surgery (p. 361). At issue is whether such a catch-all phrase can genuinely convey informed consent. One choice is to retard all additional surgical procedures in such cases, thereby exposing the patient to additional risks and inconvenience. Such a choice, however, avoids "the devastating effects on patients presented with an unwanted fait accompli" (p. 361). Many surgeons argue that informed consent should be sacrificed in the name of expediency. Such an approach appears to be defensible, however, wholly in cases of "genuine emergency that brooks no delay and provides little opportunity for preoperative discussions" (p. 361). The rights of the surgical patient oftentimes are overlooked when decisions are made within the operating room in relation

Keffer, M. J., & Keffer, H. L. (1994, March). The do-not-resuscitate order. AORN Journal, 59(3), 641-642, 644-645, 648-650.

Haddad, A. M. (1991, January). The nurse/physician relationship and ethical decision making.

AORN Journal, 53(1), 151-154, 156.

apply to surgery is "a legal arrangement, based on the thinking of a contract between two equal graphic symbolners: the patient and the doctor" (Alderson, 1995, p. 38). Regardless of the assumed character of the relationship, however, the reality is that the patient and the physician are not equal partners within the contexts of some(prenominal) medical knowledge and authority within the operating room area. Many patients tend to be so anxious just about their medical conditions that they do not "feel able to worsen offers of treatment" (p. 38). Nurses can play a "crucial part in back uping patients to enjoy more equality with doctors in matters of consent. They can explain clinical information clearly, listen to patients and help them to unravel their misunderstandings and fears" (p. 38).

Alderson, P. (1995, May). Consent to surgery: The role of the nurse. Nursing Standard, 24(9), 38-40.

Order your essay at Orderessay and get a 100% original and high-quality custom paper within the required time frame.