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The Importance of Informed Consent

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In the course of offering treatement, a patient might be in dire need of serious medical attention. In such a scenario, the patient needs to sign some documents, which say that before undergoing the treatement, the patient was aware of all the possible injuries or effects that could occur from this treatement. The process of getting the patient to sign these form of documents, is what is referred to as the process of acquiring an informed consent (Ruth, 1986).

By definition, informed consent refers to the process of granting permission to go through with a form of treatement, in which the patient says that he or she is aware of all the risks that come with the treatement procedure that is going to be administered. Following the granting of permission to go ahead with the medical procedure, the doctors do their best to do their work perfectly. However, in the instance that something were to go wrong, and the procedure doesn’t produce only the positive effects, the doctor is by law exempted from taking any of the blame, and the hospital is also protected by the law (Jessica, 2001).

In this case, the informed consent is important because, it acts as proof that the patient was aware of the risks, before undergoing the procedure and therefore, if something went wrong, the doctors and the hospitals are not to blame. The risk was simply part of the equation from the very beginning and therefore that it occurred is no one’s fault.

Arguably, there have been concerns among popular groups of people, concerning the method in which the doctor gets the patient to sign the various documents, constitution the informed consent documents. To some patients, especially those who were undergoing a complicated procedure, claim that they were not fully made aware of all the different problems that could arise out of the procedure.

In this case, the doctors find themselves under a spotlight since, probes will be raised over their ability to clearly inform the patients of the procedure they are undergoing, the possible risks involved with the current procedure, the alternative treatement modes, and the risks and benefits of those other methods too.

There have been concerns also, over the time that the patient is given, prior to the signing of the documents. Some researchers have reported that, the patients need to be given time to read through and understand the documents given, and then, allow him or her to deliberate on the issue, before coming to a decision. In some practices, the documents are only signed a few minutes before surgery is administered, clearly giving the patient no say in the matter as they have no other option but to sign the document.

Following this therefore, the following paper will research the attached documents, and the other two sources, to finally come up with an outline of exactly why the informed consent is important. This, I will analyse from the standpoint of the doctor-patient relationship, in order to objectively look at informed consent as a concept on its own. Then, I will summarize the attached documents, and in the process, address the topic question; IMPORTANCE OF INFORMED CONSENT.

The Importance of Informed Consent

Kirby, Challacombe, Hughes, Chowdhury, & Dasgupta (2013), give us a pretty good introduction to the concept of informed consent, by bringing in the issue with the reporting of doctors, to the General Medical Council (GMC). In the period between 2010 and 2011, there was an increase of 23% in the number of doctors reported to the GMC, by the patients, following a medical procedure that went wrong. This increase, on top of an already overflowing number of cases, ends up reducing the chances that GMC will investigate any particular doctor in person.

The increase in the number of reported doctors, presents a problem which should be addressed as soon as possible. In addition, Kirby (2013) presents us with the harsh of the world in which we live today. Unfortunately, the patients will have to be put through a tedious and bulky process, when it comes to granting their consent for the carrying out of a certain procedure to offer them with the treatement that they need.

This is specifically important because, the doctors are getting blamed, for doing their jobs, but apparently, for not doing it well enough. There are concerns raised over the process of acquiring the signed consent. The patient should be given time to read through the legally binding documents, and make an informed decision. Alone, the signed consent will however not be enough to absolve the doctor of any blame in the instance that the procedure did not go as planned.

In order to save on time carrying out various litigations following the wrong outcome after a procedure was administered, more time should be spent, acquiring the informed consent. This ultimately means that, it should be done more thoroughly, requiring the patient to maybe tick and sign off against each and every possible outcome that may be, off of the procedure (Kirby et al., 2013). Once this is obtained, the doctor would be in a state of a clear mindset when carrying out the procedure.

Once the two sets of documents are obtained as well, it would serve as a proof of informed consent that would also be beyond any reasonable doubt. Kirby et all., (2013), presents informed consent as being the tool that will in a way, contribute to the building of a stronger doctor-patient relationship. Increasing the bureaucracies involved when it comes to the acquisition of the informed consent, would increase the time required to successfully get the informed consent.

This would then give the patient more time to read through the information, and fully understand the consequences of the procedure. In the case that the patient has questions, he or she would be free to consult with their doctor and seek clarification. In the end, it would enable the doctor-patient relationship to grow, allowing the two parties to come to get a better handle on the situation at hand.

The Report Information from ProQuest, dated October 22 2016, at 18:55 addresses the question of what the best way is, to approach the issue of obtaining informed consent from a patient. This document also postulates a model, which was used to analyse the best way for the doctors to obtain the informed consent from the patients. The subjects of this study, were the patients who were to be invited by the medical oncologists, to take part in clinical trials. In this case, it was important to obtain the consent of the patient, before going ahead with the medical procedure.

In medicine, the best way through progressive medicine, has always been in the carrying out of the clinical trials. Such trials can be very risky, because there is no documentation for what will exactly happen afterwards. This is where the informed consent is of extreme importance. If anything goes wrong, the patient should not sue the hospital or the doctor. Therefore, it is important to make sure the process is as effective as possible in the very end, by taking the best approach towards to the issue.

The researchers, as reported by this attachment, were able to analyse the proceedings of the trials, and after rigorous evaluation, were able to come up with four main areas of concern. This areas are; shared decision making, the process of going about the consultation, the type of information presented, and finally, the factor of coercion to give some information.

The researchers are convinced that, if they invest some detailed information about this four areas, it would best allow the doctor to get through to the patient, and have them make informed decisions about the future of their treatement, and clearly understand all the risks involved with the various strategies.

From this document, one gets the impression that the informed consent is a very important document for one reason. The patient needs to be made fully aware of everything that could wrong with the medical treatement that they are seeking to undergo. From this, one gets the impression that, the informed consent is a neutral ground, where the doctor will tell the patient everything that might happen. If the patient is going to undergo the procedure, it is important to make sure that he or she is aware of what is at stake. Following this then, the informed consent is a means for achieving that, creating a situation whereby, the patient and the doctor are on the same page over the possible fate of the patient.

Waller & Repko (2008) give a small account of the history of informed consent, from the paternalistic stage, through the legal stage, and finally, at the general therapy stage. The future of informed consent is lies at the individual stage, to which we are yet to get. Presently, we operate in the general therapy stage of informed consent.

This stage of general therapy gets its name from the notion of the therapeutic benefits of letting a patient decide on what they want to be done about their own bodies, under the medical practice. Currently, sound medical practice has embraced the concept of informed consent, as being an important activity to carry out.

In this document also, Waller & Repko (2008) have perhaps presented the best importance of the informed consent. Giving the patient the chance to sign the informed consent, comes about as beign a means of giving the patient some power. Waller & Repko (2008) write that, well informed patients, and who are also made aware of the fact that they can exert knowledgeable control over their own treatement and therapy processes, end up being on a better path to recovery.

Reportedly, the informed consent boosts the immune system, prevents depression, enhances patient cooperation and fortitude, as well as enabling the patients to better tolerate pain they feel. This, and other research, has led to the consideration of the acquiring of the informed consent, as being both an ethical and therapeutic thing to do.

The benefits of an informed consent to both the patient and the doctor, is an invaluable resource, which the doctors can use to make sure they offer the best practice to the patient, and the patient can also recover quickly knowing that he or she had control over what was to be done to their body, or the therapy sessions they were to attend. The patient can view getting the informed consent as being the means for taking charge of their lives, and with the positive attitude, could end up recovering at a much faster rate.

Wilkinson‐Ryan (2014) presents a different point of view to the issue of informed consent, and what the right way to acquiring a signed consent is. For starters, the patient should be made aware of only the relevant information. Going with the can’t hurt attitude would lead to the doctors contributing to the changing of heart, by the patient.

The finer details of any medical procedure is bad enough that it would not allow the patients to decide to go with it. In seeking the informed consent, the doctors should be strictly professional, giving the relevant information, and presenting it in a manner that is not only factual, but in a way, considerate of the feelings and emotions of the patient undergoing the procedure.

Wilkinson‐Ryan was concerned about the nature of the seriousness of the document detailing the informed consent, in a world where the customers consent lightly to the contracts they find themselves. Agreeably, the disclosures do not serve their communicative purpose as much as one would expect them to. However, the current world in which we live today, the law requires that all disclosures be made known to the patients, prior to their agreeing to the contact.

It was also an observation that Wilkinson‐Ryan made, in 2014 that the disclosures might not have a major impact on our deciding to go through with a procedure or not. Understandably, we end up being in a position whereby, we make our minds despite knowing all the risks involved. However, the same disclosures play a vital role in how we understand and interpret the outcome of the procedure.

If it works in our favour, then we are okay with the disclosures. If not, then it is definitely the doctors’ fault. The main concern addressed by Wilkinson was whether or not there would be a way to create a kind of an informed consent that would not come back to put the doctor at fault later on.

From this document, I understand informed consent to be a kind of an agreement between the doctor and the patient. It is important because, it gives the patient the chance to give the doctor the right to carry out their procedure on the patient. If anything goes wrong, the patient is supposed to be understanding of the fact that wrong things just happen.

Noel Hunter (2013) looks at informed consent, from an ethical stand point. The article raises concerns about the ability of the patient to make the right decisions when confronted with the question of whether or not to give informed consent. Noel Hunter addresses the issue, from the point of the patients’ decision being affected by the kind of information that is given in the document that is offered to them when the doctor is seeking informed consent.

In the offering of treatement to sensitive conditions, the clinicians should be able to learn how to offer the right information to the patients in order to better enhance their risk/benefit decision making process. This is because, this decision is about the life of a person.

Depending on the information that is availed privately to the patient, all the relevant conditions about the illness should be presented. In case the patient has some questions, they should be feeling free to go and see their doctor in order to have their case explained to them so that they understand fully what is going on, and what needs to be done in order for their situation to be changed.

From this analogy, one understands the informed consent to be a kind of a document that presents a patients answer to a test. The answer given by the patient, depends on the information given by the doctor. Therefore, the ability of the patient to get the answer correctly, and satisfactorily, lies upon the ability of the doctor to provide accurate information. At the end of the day however, an informed consent presents a kind of a road map into the mind of the patient, seeking to explain why they made the decision they made. The best decision is made when the doctor provides the relevant information which would enable the patient to make up their minds for or against a treatement strategy.

More so, Shapiro & Smith (2011) have some brilliant ideas to add onto what we already know about informed consent. Titled Negligence in Professional Practice, Shapiro & Smith (2011), have been able to give us a view at their mind, on what they think about the issue with informed consent. Firstly, they write that, informed consent is gaining prominence in the current medical practices, especially the kind of practices which are current, and not a traditional method of offering medical services.

Application of the standard of care, is an important manner of ensuring that the informed consent is effective (Shapiro, 2011). For different kinds of illnesses, there are different practices which can be considered to be the best for that particular situation. At the end of the day, the conditions being treated should be handled in a certain way, which will be sure to produce the best effect in terms of the ability of the patient to recover later on.

This system of involves pairing the standard of care with the informed consent. From this, the informed consent is another way of showing what the patient feels of the kind of care they expect to receive from the doctors who are serving them. If the patient feels that the risks are bearable and he or she is confident that the team of doctors and nurses is going to work with the patient, then they sign the informed consent. If they don’t feel confident, they don not sign the consent.

Conclusion

An informed consent is a very important document in todays’ world of medicine. An informed consent is a legally binding document which the patients signs, following the conduction of a medical procedure. In the consent, the patient is expected to pledge that they are aware of the risks, and that it is their consent to go through with the medical procedure regardless. In this manner, if in the end they end up maybe getting a complication, they can legally not blame anyone as the stakes were explained to them earlier on.

From the material issued, important aspects of informed consent were raised. This includes the aspects to do with the ability of the doctors to clearly and simply present the relevant information to the patient. In this case, the relevant information is considered as being the information which affects the decision making of the patient, at a core level. The patient should also be given enough time, to deliberate on the issue, and make up their minds on what they think the future should look like for them and their medical terms. The process of acquiring the informed consent should be the right method, not spooking off the patient with all sorts of unnecessary disclosures. At the end of it all however, an informed consent acts as a good way of giving permission to the doctors to go ahead with a medical procedure in which, the patients know what might happen, and are on board with taking risks for the right reasons.

References

Kirby, R., Challacombe, B., Hughes, S., Chowdhury, S., & Dasgupta, P. (2013). Increasing importance of truly informed consent: the role of written patient information. BJU international, 112(6), 715-716.

Waller, B. N., & Repko, R. A. (2008). Informed consent: good medicine, dangerous side effects. Cambridge Quarterly of Healthcare Ethics, 17(01), 66-74.

Wilkinson‐Ryan, T. (2014). A Psychological Account of Consent to Fine Print. Iowa Law Review, 99, 14-22.

Hunter, N. (2013). Distortion, Bias, and Ethical Informed Consent: Presentations of Etiological and Treatment Factors in Abnormal Psychology Textbooks. Ethical Human Psychology and Psychiatry, 15(3), 160-179.

Shapiro, D. L., & Smith, S. R. (2011). Negligence in professional practice.

The Report Information from ProQuest (October, 22, 2016). 18:55