I can recall another ethical situation where I was assigned to a patient was scheduled for surgery the following morning. Apparently, at the start of my 12-hour night shift, the consent for surgery was not signed, and the procedure was not explained to the patient or to his family members. The patient does not speak or understand any English. Also, per report from the previous RN and patient’s family, at baseline, the patient is only orientated to himself. The anesthesiologist came in the middle of the night and talked to the patient and claimed that he had explained that procedure and risk to the patient. Furthermore, the anesthesiologist argued that the patient understood all the explanations that were explained to him. The anesthesiologist
