Question

What is informed consent and why is it important?

Answer 1

"Informed consent is a process of communication between the client and the health care provider to leads to an agreement or permission for care , treatment or service ."

Signing an Informed consent has becoming a vital part in the medical practice and it ​​​​​​must include the information such as ;

# The name of the diagnosis

# The name of the treatment ,test or procedure which is recommended by the health care provider.

# Risk and benefits of the treatment and procedure

# Risk and benefits of other option including ,the risk and benefits of not getting the treatment or procedure .

Components of informed consent.

There are 4 components involved in informed consent * you must have the capacity or the ability to make the decision .

* The medical provider must provide information regarding the treatment , test or procedure and it must also include the expected risk and benefits .

* You must understand the relevant information

* You must voluntarily grant the consent without any force .

Importance of informed consent

​​​​​​Informed consent is very important especially in healthcare system because no one can guarantee always a positive outcome in health care setting .

* Informed consent helps to create a trust between doctors and the patient by developing a good understanding.

* It is important to ensure that the patient has understand the risk and benefits of the undertaking treatment because it is a law .

* Informed consent is important because it represents the legal and ethical expression of a patient right to have their autonomy and self determination respected.

* Legal importance

Informed consent is important to protect the health care provider from crime and other legal actions because it is considered as as unlawful for the health care provider to treat the client in the absence of consent .In other words touching a patient without proper consent will leads to vulnerable to a civil and criminal charge . It is also important ,as it helps to protect the legal rights of the client .

* Ethical importance

Informed consent is important as it is giving respect to patient autonomy by ensuring that the treatment is directed towards the ends desired and it is chosen by the patient . It helps to guide towards the ethical practise of medicine .

* Administrative importance

Informed consent is important as it is serves the administrative purpose of system level check to ensure that the consent process has occured .