A Time to Step In: Protecting Rights of Children in Health Care Decision Making
Introduction
As professionals, nurses have the responsibilities to have better understanding of the legal and moral rights of their patients to self determination. The nurse preserves, protects, and supports those interests by assessing the patient 's comprehension of both the information presented and the implications of the decisions (Bosek, 2005). Competence is defined as the condition of being adequately qualified or capable. Informed consent is based on the premise that the people giving consent are capable enough to weigh the potential risks and benefits of what they are consenting to (Bosek and Savage, 2007). Many aspects of children 's development are independent …show more content…
A nurse needs to explore a patient 's decision making capacity if there is a reasonable ground to believe that the patient does not understand the nature or the consequences of the decisions to be made (CNPS, 2009). When patients lack the competence to make a decision about treatment, substitute decision makers must be sought (Appelbaum, 2007). The Consent Practice Guideline laid out by the governing body for registered nurses in Ontario, asserted that, prior to obtaining consent, the nurse must use professional judgement to decide whether the patient is capable of giving informed consent. If nurses determine that the patient is incapable of making decisions, nurses have legal and moral responsibility to inform the patient about the role of a substitute decision-maker and the patient 's right to appeal to the Consent and Capacity Board for a review (CNO, …show more content…
Article 3, best interests of the child, is an important principle that requires adults to give priority consideration to the impacts of their decisions on children. Article 24 is the primary article in the CRC that describes children 's health rights. This article describes the "right of the child to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health and to facilities for the treatment of illness and rehabilitation of health (CRC, 1990)." "The CRC situates children and youth as active participants in the world and calls upon us all to ensure their participation, provision and protection rights are protected because they matter now. Children’s rights are not hinged upon developmental markers or psychological achievements. Rather their rights to voice and choice, for example, must be granted because of children’s intrinsic value (Van Daalen-Smith, 2010,
Introduction
As professionals, nurses have the responsibilities to have better understanding of the legal and moral rights of their patients to self determination. The nurse preserves, protects, and supports those interests by assessing the patient 's comprehension of both the information presented and the implications of the decisions (Bosek, 2005). Competence is defined as the condition of being adequately qualified or capable. Informed consent is based on the premise that the people giving consent are capable enough to weigh the potential risks and benefits of what they are consenting to (Bosek and Savage, 2007). Many aspects of children 's development are independent …show more content…
A nurse needs to explore a patient 's decision making capacity if there is a reasonable ground to believe that the patient does not understand the nature or the consequences of the decisions to be made (CNPS, 2009). When patients lack the competence to make a decision about treatment, substitute decision makers must be sought (Appelbaum, 2007). The Consent Practice Guideline laid out by the governing body for registered nurses in Ontario, asserted that, prior to obtaining consent, the nurse must use professional judgement to decide whether the patient is capable of giving informed consent. If nurses determine that the patient is incapable of making decisions, nurses have legal and moral responsibility to inform the patient about the role of a substitute decision-maker and the patient 's right to appeal to the Consent and Capacity Board for a review (CNO, …show more content…
Article 3, best interests of the child, is an important principle that requires adults to give priority consideration to the impacts of their decisions on children. Article 24 is the primary article in the CRC that describes children 's health rights. This article describes the "right of the child to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health and to facilities for the treatment of illness and rehabilitation of health (CRC, 1990)." "The CRC situates children and youth as active participants in the world and calls upon us all to ensure their participation, provision and protection rights are protected because they matter now. Children’s rights are not hinged upon developmental markers or psychological achievements. Rather their rights to voice and choice, for example, must be granted because of children’s intrinsic value (Van Daalen-Smith, 2010,