Professional Development Exercises :

  • Read the case study presented at the end of Chapter 8 (Guido, p. 150)
    • Is the patient correct in asserting that he has a right to know the names and status of individuals who will be performing this procedure?
    • Does the manner in which the student introduced herself and the two other team members have relevance in this case?
    • Was the informed consent deficient to the degree that there was a lack of informed consent by the patient?
    • How would you decide this case?
  • A patient is admitted to your surgical center for a breast biopsy under local anesthesia. The surgeon has previously informed the patient of the procedure, risks, alternatives, desired outcomes, and possible complications. You give the surgery permit form to the patient for her signature. She readily states that she knows about the procedure and has no additional questions; she signs the form with no hesitation. Her husband, who is visiting with her, says he is worried that something may be said during the procedure to alarm his wife. What do you do at this point? Do you alert the surgeon that informed consent has not been obtained? Do you request that the surgeon revisit the patient and reinstruct her about the surgery? Since the patient has already signed the form, is there anything more you should do?

Now consider the ethical issues that such a scenario raises. Which ethical principles is the husband in this example most portraying? Which ethical principles should guide the nurse in working with this patient and family member?

  • Jimmy Chang, a 20- year- old college student, is admitted to your institution for additional chemotherapy. Jimmy was diagnosed with leukemia 5 years earlier and has had several courses of chemotherapy. He is currently in an acute active phase of the disease, though he had enjoyed a 14- month remission phase prior to this admission. His parents, who accompany him to the hospital, are divided as to the benefits of additional chemotherapy. His mother is adamant that she will sign the informed consent form for this course of therapy, and his father is equally adamant that he will refuse to sign the informed consent form because “Jimmy has suffered enough.”

You are his primary nurse and must assist in somehow resolving this impasse. What do you do about the informed consent form? Who signs and why? Using the MORAL model, decide the best course of action for Jimmy from an ethical perspective rather than a legal perspective. Did you come to the same conclusion using both an ethical and a legal approach?

Solution Preview

Informed consent case

Indeed, the patient has a right to knowing the name of the healthcare providers who will be carrying out the procedure. Even before the patient asks for the information, the information should have been put in the document called informed consent for the patient to sign before agreeing on taking up the procedures. Guido (2014) has presented that the process of treatment should not be forced on patients but they should rather part of the treatment hence the process should be patient-centered.

This informs that the procedures should be carried out on the patient only if the patient agrees. For the case presented, the patient could have had a chance of refusing the procedure is she had information that the nurse anesthesiologist who was supposed to administer the anesthesia, the patient could have refused the procedure. The patient, as well as a right of having such information since it could help in the process of making a decision and with the failure of provision of such information the lack of disclosure of all the information, revokes the informed consent and the patient can even sure the healthcare facility because of the same….

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