Patient Informed Consent to Intervention in Physical Therapy Practice - Essay Example

Patient Informed Consent to Intervention in Physical Therapy Practice Introduction Before many crucial healthcare procedures are conducted, there are acceptable ethical and legal principles that a trained healthcare provider must obtain. This is referred to as an informed consent from the consumer (or patient). Patient informed consent is a situation where a health provider provides detailed information to a patient so that he or she may voluntarily make a choice whether to refuse or accept treatment. This decision depends on the physician ethical duty to involve a patient in health care and the patient’s ethical and legal rights to decide what happens to his or her body. The process of obtaining informed consent can be conducted as a single event or a series of multiple discussions in hospital wards, for inpatients or outpatients. This paper is determined to provide detailed information about the meaning of informed consent to intervention and the significance of obtaining patient informed consent to intervention in physical therapy practice. Additionally, it further describes how patient informed consent to intervention reflects the ethical principle of respecting the patient’s autonomy and its legal aspect. Informed Consent to Intervention Valid or informed consent has history in ethical theory, law and clinical and research practice. Its determining factors in clinical theory include the disclosure of the information by a healthcare provider, understanding and consent from the patient and a patient’s competence and preconditions of voluntariness (Delany, 2007). On the other hand, the philosophical theory that underlines valid consent is the issue of autonomy that is defined as the self-rule or self-governance. This is the freedom of people to express individual preferences and aspirations, or the capacity of people to choose or reflect (Delany, 2007). Before a clinician or a therapist to approve a patient’s informed consent to be valid, he or she must ensure that the patient is competent; meaning that he or she must be of sound mind to make valid and correct judgments, which must also be voluntarily provided. Voluntariness can be enhanced by making a clear statement to the patient that he or she is participating in a decision-making process, but not merely engaging in a simple talk to receive a treatment. This is a significant means of making it clear for the patient that informed consent process is an invitation for her or him to participate in a healthcare decision-making process (Delany, 2007). Likewise, a clinician is also mandated to give a recommendation and share his thoughts with the patient. Understanding the patient’s suggestions and recommendations is also equally important as the given information. Physicians are always advised to make such decision-making process simpler and in a layman’s language to aid a patient’s comprehension of what the discussion is all about. This also implies that terms, which the patient does not understand should be explained and his or her understanding should be regularly be assessed along the process. Basic consent should let the patient understand what the physician requires. Additionally, giving the patient detailed information about how the healthcare procedure will be carried out also increases their chance of voluntarily conceding or signing to the intervention (Scott, 2009). In relation to this, assents refer to the patient’s willingness to accept an intervention, treatment or clinical care. For instance, simple consent is necessary when drawing blood from a patient who had earlier given blood (Scott, 2009). However, this kind of a simple informed consent procedure should be merited by decisions, which require low-level involvement of the patient because high-level involvement comes from a community consensus that the treatment the patient is undergoing is the best option and there are little risks involved in this process. It is always recommended that if a patient does not consent to the initial basic consent, then a comprehensive consent discussion should be implemented. This will give the patient finer details about what is required by the physician and the details of the treatment procedure. Significance of Obtaining Patient Informed Consent In a clinical setting, patients are usually required to give consent to healthcare procedures because, while the procedure is intended to diagnose or improve their health, there might other unexpected injuries or risks that may show up during the treatment process. The most significant goal of informed consent is that the client has an opportunity to be an active member of his or her healthcare decision (Delany, 2005). It is also beneficial that an informed consent contains the following elements: assessment of patient understanding; acceptance of the intervention by the patient, the nature of procedure or decision, valid alternatives to the proposed intervention and the relevant benefits, uncertainties and risks related to each alternative (Delany, 2005). This ensures that the patient is ready and willing to take the healthcare process and is aware of any risk that may come out. In this case, he or she is not obligated to file any lawsuit against the physician in case of any emergency or negative outcome. Consent is usually given before surgical procedures, but it is also necessary in a number of interventions to diagnose or treat the disease (Delany, 2005). Some of these examples include diagnostic interventions such as bronchoscopy, angiography and endoscopy; curative procedures such as radiotherapy and chemotherapy; and procedures associated with childbirth and pregnancy such as chronic villous sampling, amniocentesis, and Caesarean Section (Delany, 2005). Additionally, consent is also required in all processes requiring the use of anesthesia and in even cases of emergencies when the patient is too sick to give a written consent, the physician is expected to obtain an oral consent. In critical conditions or when the patient is below 16-years-old, consent should be provided by relatives or other delegates (Scott, 2009). However, when the patient is unconscious and relatives/delegates are not available, physicians are expected to act in their best judgment and the patient’s best interest. Signed consent forms are used usually used as evidence of informed consent in clinical in physical therapy practice. Ethical Principle of Respecting the Patient’s Autonomy and Its Legal Aspect Consideration of a patient’s autonomy is one of the elements that informed consent is all about and it also includes both legal and ethical principle. Patient informed consent to intervention is a means of respecting a patient’s ethical and legal obligations because the patient is given the right of self-decision where he or she possesses detailed information to create an intelligent choice (Bennett, 2007). By doing so, the patient is given the opportunity to determine his or her own treatment procedure. On the other hand, the physician is only mandated to provide accurate and precise medical facts to the patient or his or her relatives. Additionally, the physician is also ethically obligated to help the patient make choices among the available alternative treatment procedures that are in accordance to the good medical practice (Bennett, 2007). A medical practitioner can be held responsible in case of any malpractice because informed consent law focuses on a patient’s right to make valid choices for the best healthcare process he or she desires. In most American States, the law of informed consent was originally created with the suits involving claims with physicians (Bennett, 2007). The underlying law was to determine what kind of information a physician needs to give a patient in order to assent to an intervention. In summary, With respect to the variability of state law, there is no substantial applicability of a law that instructs a physician on what information should be provided to a patient. All they need to do is to ensure that accurate and a variety of treatment procedures are given to the patient (Scott, 2009). This ensures that incase of any negative outcome, the patient is not obligated to file a court suit against the physician because his autonomy was respect before the beginning of a treatment procedure. References Bennett, John. (2007). Informed Consent. Liability Awareness , 39-41. Delany, Clare. (2007). In private practice, informed consent is interpreted as providing explanations rather than offering choices: a qualitative study. Australian Journal of Physiotherapy 2007 Vol. 53 , 171-176. Delany, Clare. (2005). Respecting Patient Autonomy and Obtaining their Informed Consent: Ethiocal Theory-Missing Action. School of Physiotherapy, The University of Melbourne, Vic. 3010. Australia , 197-202. Scott R. W. (2009). Promoting Legal and Ethical Awareness: A Premier for Health Professional and Patients. St. Louis, MO: Mosby-Elsevier. Read More