Introduction
Informed consent has been a popular topic in the world of medical and legal ethics. It has caused dilemma among health care professionals in many situations. According to Cainzos and González-Vinagre (2014), informed consent should be made by a competent patient, voluntarily and independently. Nurses play a vital role in adhering to the principles of informed consent and ensuring that the consent is valid. Although patients have an autonomous right to give informed consent for any procedures, there are times whereby, the nurses need to override their decisions.
Case study
Mr. K, a 60-year-old Chinese male, was a patient who came for an elective surgery of angiogram and angioplasty over the right femoral region under moderate sedation. Patients who come for surgery under moderate sedation are usually given sedative drugs such as intravenous(IV) Midazolam and Fentanyl. Patients will be monitored by the anaesthesia nurse and be awake for the entire operation with slight sedation that would keep them calm throughout the …show more content…
Z decided that it would be appropriate to continue with amputation of Mr. K’s right little toe, as doing the operation would save the patient money and time, travelling to the hospital. Dr. Z also informed the scrub nurses to prepare for the amputation.
Mr. K agreed with Dr. Z to proceed with the surgery as he did not want to waste time travelling to the hospital again. Although Mr. K was sedated, he was able to converse with Dr. Z appropriately regarding his second surgical procedure.
The nurses, however, did not agree with continuing the second procedure as Mr. K was already sedated and this was not an emergency procedure that would save his life. Both scrub nurse and anaesthesia nurse were reluctant to proceed with the amputation as there was no written consent. According to the hospital policy and standard of protocol, it was imperative to obtain an informed consent before any invasive
Informed consent has been a popular topic in the world of medical and legal ethics. It has caused dilemma among health care professionals in many situations. According to Cainzos and González-Vinagre (2014), informed consent should be made by a competent patient, voluntarily and independently. Nurses play a vital role in adhering to the principles of informed consent and ensuring that the consent is valid. Although patients have an autonomous right to give informed consent for any procedures, there are times whereby, the nurses need to override their decisions.
Case study
Mr. K, a 60-year-old Chinese male, was a patient who came for an elective surgery of angiogram and angioplasty over the right femoral region under moderate sedation. Patients who come for surgery under moderate sedation are usually given sedative drugs such as intravenous(IV) Midazolam and Fentanyl. Patients will be monitored by the anaesthesia nurse and be awake for the entire operation with slight sedation that would keep them calm throughout the …show more content…
Z decided that it would be appropriate to continue with amputation of Mr. K’s right little toe, as doing the operation would save the patient money and time, travelling to the hospital. Dr. Z also informed the scrub nurses to prepare for the amputation.
Mr. K agreed with Dr. Z to proceed with the surgery as he did not want to waste time travelling to the hospital again. Although Mr. K was sedated, he was able to converse with Dr. Z appropriately regarding his second surgical procedure.
The nurses, however, did not agree with continuing the second procedure as Mr. K was already sedated and this was not an emergency procedure that would save his life. Both scrub nurse and anaesthesia nurse were reluctant to proceed with the amputation as there was no written consent. According to the hospital policy and standard of protocol, it was imperative to obtain an informed consent before any invasive