Delivery Consent Form – Everyone should be able to make informed choices about their health. Medical procedures can be demanding, and therefore patients should be able to ultimately determine from the facts about risks that their bodies should be treated. Therefore, before medical workers are allowed to operate on patients, they must be given what is known as informed consent.
Informed consent constitutes a lawful condition under which a patient has been provided with detailed information about his or her physical health and the recommended treatment by the physician who is acting as the patient’s physician. After receiving this information the patient must give the doctor their consent to treat prior to any form of treatment is administered. Without the patient’s informed consent the health professional is not permitted to provide treatment.
Decision Making Capacity
In certain instances patients may not have the capabilities to fully understand the options for treatment and the risks/benefits of each. In other circumstances patients might not be able to effectively communicate their decisions to the health care professionals. When this occurs the patient is considered not to possess the proper capacity to make decisions. The family member, or court-appointed representative, will then be permitted to give informed consent in lieu of the patient.
Patients who are influenced by their emotions – anxiety or fear, as an example could be classified as lacking the ability to make decisions. The patients who are unconscious cannot make decisions on independently, and other people must provide consent for treatment instead.
Items in an Delivery Consent Form
There are certain elements that are included on all informed consent forms:
The patient’s medical diagnosis/condition
The recommended treatment is suggested by the acting physician
The risks and benefits associated with this treatment
Alternative treatments that are available, along with their potential risks and benefits
The potential risks and rewards with not accepting any treatment at all
The items should not only be recorded in the documentation however, they must communicated with the person receiving the treatment. So, he can fully comprehend the specifics of the situation and will be able to get immediate answers to any queries that might have arisen.