Start Talking Consent Form – Every person should be able to make informed choices about their medical care. Medical treatments can be quite sensitive, so patients must be able to ultimately determine the risks that are known to be present of their body, how it will be treated. Therefore, before medical workers are allowed to treat patients, they need to receive the process of informed consent.
Informed consent is a legal requirement where a patient is provided with specific information regarding the physical condition and the recommended treatment by the physician who is acting as the patient’s physician. Once this information is received the patient has to be able to give the physician their consent to treat before any form or treatment can be administered. Without the patient’s informed consent health care professional cannot offer treatment.
Decision Making Capacity
In certain situations the patients aren’t equipped with the knowledge to fully comprehend the options for treatment and the benefits and risks associated with each. In other circumstances patients may not be able to effectively convey their preferences to health workers. When this occurs, the patient is said not to have adequate capacity for decision-making. A family member or court-appointed representative, in this case, can give informed consent in lieu of the patient.
Patients who are strongly affected by their emotions – such as anxiety or fear, for instance can be deemed to not having the capacity to make decisions. Patients who are in the state of unconscious are unable to make decisions on their own. Therefore, outside parties have to give consent for treatment instead.
Items in an Start Talking Consent Form
Certain elements are universally included in informed consent forms:
The patient’s medical conditions/diagnosis
The procedure recommended by the acting physician
The risks and the benefits associated with this procedure
Alternative treatments that are available, along with their benefits and risks
The potential risks and rewards with accepting no treatment at all
These details must not only be documented in a written document however, they must communicated with the person receiving the treatment. This way, he or will be able to comprehend all the details of the scenario and will receive immediate responses to any queries that might arise.
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