CNO LEARNING MODULES

CNO Learning Modules



CNO Learning Module

Consent

Obtaining consent is an ethical and legal obligation for a nurse, because it is necessary to inform certain people associated with the client, before performing the procedure. If the medical practitioner or specialist provides information regarding the treatment to a person asking him/her to make a decision, it is an informed consent. Moreover, if a person receives further information about his/her treatment upon request, it is also an informed consent. All information provided in consent must include the important aspects the treatment, for instance, nature of treatment, its benefits and associated risks, consequences of not having the treatment and so on (www.cno.org).

Fundamentally consents are of three types:

Consent for Treatment: If consent for starting any treatment, requires permission, except for some emergency situation treatments, the healthcare practitioner involved in conducting the treatment would be held responsible for it. It is his duty to make sure that the treatment starts only with the consent of the client. This consent should inculcate all the required information about the treatment and should not be obtained through fraud or misrepresentation.

Consent to Admission to a Care Facility: This consent is necessary to obtain whenever admission to a care facility is required as per the federal law.

Consent to Personal Assistance: This consent is not required by law; however, it can be obtained from a substitute decision maker, in cases, where the recipient of personal assistance service is incapable of giving consent. The substitute decision maker should be according to the hierarchy mentioned in the Health Care Consent Act (HCCA).

People from whom consent can be obtained are of 3 basic types:

Substitute Decision Maker: These are people identified by HCCA, who can sign the consent on behalf of people who are incapable of doing this. Two blood relations, two partners (those who have lived with the person for at least a year, or have a personal relationship of primary importance in the lives of both people) and spouses are in the list of substitute decision maker.

Consent Capacity Board (CCB): CCB is a governmental board which reviews applications related to directions, finding incapability and appointment of representatives on behalf of an incapacitated person.

Public Guardian and Trustee (PGT): They are responsible for signing consents as a substitute decision maker, as a lender f last resort, for clients who are mentally incapable for signing consents.

Legal Acts on Consent

Two principal acts encompass the legislation of consent namely: The Health Care Consent Act and The Substitute Decisions Act. These two acts have strict guidelines mentioned with regard to consent. The major goals of HCCA emphasize on promoting individual power of attorney, facilitating of the healthcare practitioner's communications with clients. This will make sure that immediate family members are involved when the client is incapable of signing consents. The HCCA deals with all three types of consents differently.

On the other hand, the goal of Substitute Decisions Act (SDA) is self-explanatory. It deals with the decision making on behalf of the people incapable of signing ...