Based on what you have learned about an individual’s right to self-determination and autonomy, do you believe this basic patient consent form adequately informs patients of their medical rights? Explain your answer.
Yes, it is my belief that it is crucial that patients’ dignity is respected as this promotes promotional treatment that ensures patients are accorded the freedom and basic rights as they receive healthcare services. This promotes patient autonomy in health facility which according to Medical Ethics and Humanities allows the patient to take it upon themselves which enables them to freely make decisions without interference, control or opinions (Godbold and Lees, 2015). Therefore, it is important for healthcare providers to respect patients’ autonomy as it pertains to decision-making. The law and moral ethics provide the patient with the freedom to decide and determine the kind of medical practices to adopt and their medical fate in spite of the consequences. It does not matter whether the patient in question is diagnosed or suffers from a terminal condition/disease, the autonomy to decide the type of treatment, intervention or course of action must always remain with the patient in an attempt to stabilize the patient or in prolonging the mortality (Godbold and Lees, 2015). As such autonomy is exercised by the patient in the form of patient’s consent which represents the patient’s permission to the health providers to proceed with the medical procedure or intervention. Before the medical intervention, the healthcare provider is expected to explain to the patient the consequences in terms of health risks and benefits associated with the intended therapy or procedure. Despite granting them the right/freedom to make decisions, patient autonomy is not a guarantee that they enjoy the final verdict. There exists a different aspect of autonomy, advanced a directive that allows those above 18 years to make decide decisions such as terminating their lives. As a result, the patient does not usually get notified of this medical right in the consent form.
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Would the basic consent form for Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy be understood by the average person in the United States with a reading ability of a typical 8th grader? Explain your answer.
No, the basic consent form for Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy may not be understood by someone with a reading ability of a typical 8 th grader simply because of lack of adequate health literacy to the patient. This may lead to miscommunication which results from the individual finding it difficult to understand the Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy’s basic consent form (Vivek et al., 2014). This is because the form contains basic medical terms that make it difficult for the above individual who has no basic medical knowledge to comprehend. According to Vivek et al. (2014), some of these medical terms that may not be understood by this individual are incision, prognosis, and endoscope among many others. Additionally, some medication labels have been designed in such a way that it is difficult for an individual with a typical 8 th -grade reading ability to comprehend and understand. As a result, the individual may be exposed to the risk of not correctly adhering to the treatment/medical instructions which lead to both medical and social concerns. The bottom line is that any individual without medical knowledge may end up not understanding their basic medical rights.
Describe at least three steps health care providers can take in order to ensure patients understand their care as well as prepare them to give acceptable consent for the procedure.
There exist various ways in which healthcare providers may consider in an attempt to make sure that patients get to understand the care provided and to make them ready to provide appropriate consent. The first step should be to educate the patients on the importance of the consent form which includes its benefits (Heisig et al., 2015). This step enables patients to understand the functions of the form and the role of the healthcare provider in that particular medical procedure. Another step is the recognition of patient rights by healthcare providers (Heisig et al., 2015). This is also referred to as patient autonomy and it involves healthcare providers’ acknowledgment of the patients’ rights on how they are to be treated. This ensures that health practitioners do not interfere with patients’ rights by influencing treatment or medical decisions. Thirdly, health providers may facilitate patients’ understanding of their care by providing informed consent (Heisig et al., 2015). This provides the patient with the rights to educated and informed on their medical decisions as well as their health. The patient can, therefore, be prepared to provide an acceptable consent for a given medical intervention by asking them some relevant questions. Furthermore, the patient is granted the freedom to inquire about the treatment options at their disposal and their likelihood to be adopted. The steps facilitate the patient’s understanding of their care and prepare them to give informed consents that will allow healthcare providers to provide high-quality health/medical care.
Provide a brief explanation of the importance of keeping abreast with health care trends and issues, including the relationship to ethics, law, and effective medical communications.
It is very important to keep pace with healthcare trends and issues as ignoring them may bring about improper or low-quality healthcare which may have implications on law, ethics, and medical communications. Through proper ethical knowledge, healthcare practitioners are able to provide justifications as to what is right or wrong within their field which ensures they conduct themselves appropriately and professionally (Godbold and Lees, 2015). Keeping up, understanding, and embracing the healthcare trends assists in the resolution of health-related and ethically challenging issues and decision-making which has made ethics as an essential part of healthcare professionals’ education. Additionally, health care professionals should stay up to date on matters concerning laws as new laws touching on health are created and amended by the government as it possesses the power to do that. As such, healthcare professionals and their leaders are expected to understand them and adhere to these laws. Proper and effective medical communication among medical providers and patients is important. This has been observed to minimize medical errors which have proved important in providing patients with high-quality care (Godbold and Lees, 2015). So laws, medical communication, and ethics are important aspects and concepts as far as rising healthcare issues and trends are concerned.
References
Godbold, R., & Lees, A. (2015). Ethics education for health professionals: A values based approach. Nurse Education In Practice, 13(6), 553-560. doi:10.1016/j.nepr.2013.02.012
Heisig, S. R., Shedden-Mora, M. C., Hidalgo, P., & Nestoriuc, Y. (2015). Framing and personalizing informed consent to prevent negative expectations: An experimental pilot study. Health Psychology, 34(10), 1033-1037. doi:10.1037/hea0000217. Retrieved from: http://eds.b.ebscohost.com/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=80ee7e3f-8770-42d0-970f-f3c30cb3909e%40sessionmgr115&vid=4&hid=117
Vivek, M. A. K. M., Augustine, A. J., & Rao, R. (2014). A comprehensive predictive scoring method for difficult laparoscopic cholecystectomy. Journal of Minimal Access Surgery, 10(2), 62–67. http://doi.org/10.4103/0972-9941.129947
