Discuss The Ethical Principles Underlying A Particular Aspect Of

Discuss The Ethical Principles Underlying A Particular Aspect Of Discuss The Ethical Principles Underlying A Particular Aspect Of Informed Consent â€" Essay Example > Discuss the ethical principles underlying a particular aspect of informed consentThe concept of ethics in nursing though is seen in the same line with the birth of terms as the human rights, it is well accepted that from time immemorial, nursing- the selfless service as one of its multitude colors had ethical obligations also. With the growth of the concept of bioethical standards, the stage is set on, were the healthcare professionals are expected to respect the patient and involve them in the active process of decision making. Thus gone are the days when the patients were as passive observers, and kept out of any clinical decisions as unknowledgeable. Thus now it is widely accepted that every healthcare client as consumer has specific rights and the healthcare providers â€" the professional are expected to respect the rights. In this nurses as the selfless healthcare professional has an additional duty of supporting and promoting the patients health and also are expected to act as their advocate when necessary. At extreme times when the patient is not in a power of agency, the nurses are expected to do to the patient what he would have done if he is entitled with the power. One such thing that has become a buzz word of ethical standard in both medical practice and research is “Informed Consent”. (Beauchamp Childress, 1989)Informed consent: Informed consent can be described as an agreement given by the patient for a proposed course of treatment or a research activity, upon receiving clear, understandable information about the ensuing potential benefits and risks. In providing treatment, additionally it is required to explain all treatments available for your health condition, and the risks of receiving no treatment. Informed consent can be regarded even as the epitome of patient’s autonomy. In biomedical ethics, the informed consent is defined as decision obtained from autonomous, competent individual in non coercing way after providing them with t he knowledge that they can either accept or reject the proposed course of action. As a annexure a complete informative communication of information is expected, regarding the procedures, that would help them to take individual decisions. It is the fundamental right of the patient to accept and reject the consent after duly obtaining all the information. Now a days the informed consent has been made as a part of law of ethics in many countries as Europe and America. (Faden Beauchamp, 1986)Aspects Informed consent: The practice of informed consent historically is found to be rooted to not only to medicine, but also to other fields as moral philosophy, and the law. Now with medicine deeply rooted to law. The informed consent in general has two aspects, the informed consent for medical treatment and informed consent for medical research. The difference being, consent to treatment rooted in case law and consent to research, being based on ethical codes, statutes, and administrative re gulations, with the least involvement of courts. (Arnold, 2002)Informed consent medical treatment: Informed consent in this aspect is the process by which the patient’s freedom, privacy and safety is guaranteed apart from developing the trust and mutual goodwill between the professionals and patients. The informed consent in medical treatment could be characterized in two aspects, one is autonomous authorization of medical intervention, and the other is institutional rules of consent, a legal consent obtained prior to a procedure. In general the informed consent, constitutes of five major elements as voluntarism, that expects a consent without persuasion and inducements: capacity, that defines the patients ability to take a decision, competence being judged according to situations and has its own set of regulations; disclosure that involves the explanation of nature, purpose, risk and chances of the proposed procedure; understanding that demands patient to comprehend the situatio n, in court the lack of understanding doesn’t stand for a legal issue if proper disclosure of information is proved; finally the decision that deals with the final step of patient’s authorization of the physician to carry out the treatment.