EXAMPLE:

Bort (2020) discusses informed consent in terms of nurses promoting patient autonomy by ensuring that when they gain consent all the requirements are met for it to be legal. In Australia all patients have the right to make an informed choice, be it consenting to or declining healthcare treatment. In making that choice, it is important to consider that the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia (NMBA) (2016) directs nurses to advocate on behalf of people in a manner that respects the person’s autonomy and legal capacity, and as such when seeking consent, the nurse must consider a patient’s competence and capacity to form decisions, free from coercion and based upon all the relevant information (Frunza & Sandu, 2021). Relevant to this, the case study provided for this assignment discusses that consent was obtained for the surgery and a verbal consent was provided for a blood transfusion, by the patient, as she was transferred to the operating theatre. However, this raises the issue of whether the consent for a blood transfusion was valid as the Department of Health [DoH] (2016) highlights the need for an explicit consent for procedures such as a blood transfusion because it is a high-risk procedure (Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care (ACSQHC), 2017) requiring consent to be acquired and documented.

While consent for surgery was obtained and documented in the presence of the patient’s mother, consent for a blood transfusion was declined upon religious grounds. The nurse accepted this decision, having abided by the Code of Conduct Professional Conduct for Nurses in Australia by providing accurate, impartial, and honest information in relation to the procedure (NMBA, 2018). However, as the patient was transferred to the operating theatre away from her mother, consent for the blood transfusion was given verbally. The age of consent to healthcare in Australia is 18, however between the age of 14 and 17, a child may be considered a mature minor allowing them to consent to their own treatment (DoH, 2016). A mature minor can provide consent if they are deemed to have the capacity and competence to provide an informed decision (Dunch et. al., 2020). Demonstrating competence includes four elements including the ability to: maintain and communicate a choice; understand the relevant information; appreciate the situation and its consequences; and manipulate the information in a rational fashion (Staunton, 2019). The competence to consent is assumed unless a lack of competence is identified (Atkins et al., 2021). Therefore, the patient may be classed as a mature minor who is able to consent or refuse treatment, however, if a mature minor status is confirmed then then explicit consent would still be required for the blood transfusion.