Health Policy

INFORMED CONSENT AND ETHICAL CHALLENGES 6

Informed Consent and Ethical Challenges

Tyrone James

H570

6/3/16

Case I

One of the questions asked by health professionals is how should one respond to a patient who has declined to take a recommended intervention program? (Arnold, 2001).The right answer to this questions relies on the decision making capacity of the patient as well as the circumstances that led the patient to make such a decision thus one of the idea or the patients right to refuse or decline a certain treatment more so the one that is deemed to be potentially life-saving remains to be central in the ethics of health care. Although a patient has a right to refuse a certain treatment, health care practitioners should conduct appropriate capacity assessment in order to determine if the said patient lacks some components of decision making capacity.

For the case of a patient with serious obligations such as a family, a health care practioners should explore the reasons behind the patient’s decision of refusing to be given the recommended treatment. Ethically, the health care practitioners who is concerned should call for active engagement with the patient as well as the family members who are concerned so as to understand the clinical conditions of the patient. This will enable the health care practioners to work with the patient by addressing his/her goals and in addition to this, the health care practioners will be in a position to identify the fears or the concerns of the patient (Weissman & von Gunten, 2000).

The idea of a patient with serious obligation such as a family to refuse to be given a certain treatment should prompt all the healthcare practioners to reflect on the necessity of the health care plan. Thus if the patient is refusing or is resisting treatment via a certain route of administration then it will be a prudent idea for these experts to find another way or another route which will make the patient to accept the treatment. In such a situation, friends and family members can shed some light on the patients’ decision to refuse to be subjected to certain treatment and this will help the health care practioners to provide the patient with a treatment which is less upsetting (Bailey, 2003). Generally, healthcare practioners should explore the root cause of patient’s refusal to specific treatment and they should come up with an alternative form of treatment.

Case II

An informed consent before any participation in a clinical exercise is very vital because it protects the patients’ autonomy and rights. The informed consent has been defined as the information relating to treatment which is given to the patient by the concerned healthcare practioners before any treatment. This information gives a detailed explanation about the proposed medical treatment to be undergone by the patient who is concerned (Nolte & McKee, 2008). For the case of Mrs. S, her denial to the health condition does not make the informed consent to be impossible. Health care ethics requires that a patient should give his/her informed consent before undergoing any medical treatment.

A healthcare practitioners or a physician is expected to offer the necessary education to the patient in relation to the treatment to be undergone by the patient. This practice is necessary so that the physician will gain knowledgeable approval treatment plan from the patient. As a matter of fact, treatment of certain diseases as we can see from Mrs. S case poses a lot of stress to the patient and this affects the informed consent of the patient. In my opinion, I do believe that Mrs. S has the right to refuse once the full and accurate information has been provided to her about her condition and likely outcomes, without treatment. Physicians are ethically obliged to reduce the anxiety and stress experienced by a patient who has refused to undergo a certain kind of treatment. Physicians should recognize that anxiety affects the doctor-patient relationship as well as the ability of the patient to make an informed choices thus he/she should be careful in disclosing vital information and he/she will rest assured of improving the relationship between him/her and the patient.

References

Arnold R. (2001).Fast Fact and Concept #056: What to do when a patient refuses treatment, End-of-Life Physician Resource Center (EPERC).

Bailey FA. (2003). The Palliative Response. Birmingham, AL: Menasha Ridge Press

Nolte, E., & McKee, M. (2008). Caring for people with chronic conditions: A health system perspective. Maidenhead: Open University Press.

Weissman D, von Gunten C. (2000). Fast Fact and Concept #023: DNR orders in the hospital– Part 1. End-of-Life Physician Resource Center (EPERC).