Informed consent refers to the patients appending a signature to a form containing a treatment procedure they are to undertake. The consent is informed in the sense that the patient gains an understanding of the procedures importance, the expected results and available alternatives. As such, nurses play an essential role in obtaining informed consents from the patient. Their functions can either be executed from a caregiver point of view or as a patient's advocate. This paper discusses the role of the nurses in obtaining informed consent as a caregiver and an advocate. It further explains Informed consent from a nurse manager and the healthcare organizations point of view.
The nurse as a caregiver is legally and ethically mandated to administer or oversee the patients consent. Legally, the patient or their surrogate is required to sign a consent form to express their will, understanding of the risk, importance, and knowledge of alternatives to the procedure they are about to undergo. Therefore the nurse is better placed in providing more information about the medical process because of the closeness with the patient as dictated by their career. The information can be presented to the patient or their surrogate through teaching and make them narrate what they have understood. The understanding of the procedure, ethically gives the patient autonomy affirming they know and have freely given the consent. Furthermore, the nurse can oversee the consent process. When another medical practitioner administers the form, the witnessing nurse can make sure the patient has obtained the necessary information about the procedure.
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The perspective is not different when discussed from a nurse's manager's point of view. Whereas some patient cases such as emergency cases deprive the patients most of the freedom to willingly give the consent, the nurse managers should always encourage the nurses being the ones that interact most with the patients a chance to educate, oversee or administer the informed consent process. The healthcare organization, on the other hand, should also capitalize on the nurses' constant interaction with the patient to cultivate the ethical benefits of ensuring the consent given by the patients is informed.
In conclusion, it is clear that nurses being the closest medical practitioners to the patients play several responsibilities in obtaining informed consent. First, they educate the patient on the procedures. Secondly, they oversee the administration of the informed consent, and lastly, they administer the form knowing that the patient is informed. On the other hand, the nurse’s managers and the healthcare facility should reinforce the need for the nurses to facilitate the patient to give informed consent.
