Nurse Disciplined for Telling Patient about Alternative Treatments - Essay Example

Ethics according to the Oxford Dictionary is ‘principles namely moral principles that govern how a person conducts an activity and the principles that govern a person’s behavior’ (Press, Ethics, 2010). On the other hand, the Oxford Dictionary defines law in these terms (putting the meaning in simple words); the system of rules which a country employs and uses to regulate and control the actions and doings of its members (Press, Law, 2010).

NMC, short for Nursing and Midwifery Council, is a council or a body that deals with almost every single side of nursing including the laws and ethics. It functions by regulating the nurses and midwives in different parts of Great Britain such as; England, Scotland, Wales, the Islands, and Northern Ireland (NMC, What we do, 2010). Their first and foremost concern is to safeguard and protect the well-being of the public. (NMC, Factsheet: Assessment and investigation of fitness to practice referrals to the NMC, 2010)
Informed consent in this matter is the most influential seeming aspect of law. It is a legal procedure that ensures the know-how and knowledge of a patient regarding the potential risks and methods of a procedure or treatment plan (Cherry n.d.). This provides an opportunity for the patients or clients in a healthcare system to make decisions regarding matters of health and treatment plans.

Consent could either be expressed or implied and depending upon the situation at hand, either one of them is applicable and mandatory (Abbas 2012). Expressed consent is the most widely used and most applicable form of consent used in clinical practice. In this form, the patient willingly and verbally gives his consent regarding a medical or health procedure, etc. On the other hand, the patient does not verbally give consent in implied consent but rather his actions or body language indicate that the consent has been given for example when a patient presents his arm for the administration of an injection, etc. however, the distinction between these two becomes unclear in clinical practice and requires careful evaluation of the situation by the physician and the nurse.

Considering the role of a nurse in obtaining informed consent, it is not the nurse’s duty to explain the technical details of a medical procedure but rather that of the physician. However, she is responsible for obtaining the patient’s signature on the consent form. These signatures imply that the consent was voluntary, not coercive, and authentic, and also that the nurse witnessed the physician asking for consent and the patient agreeing to it (Abbas 2012).

For a nurse to protect herself from the legal implications, obtaining informed consent is the most important and foremost responsibility. Any nurse who fails to do so is liable to legal action. Trehan and Sankhari (2002) explain in their work that any procedure started without first informing the patient about it and obtaining his consent would be labeled as “battery” which is liable to strict legal action being a crime in nature. Moreover, they elucidate that blanket consent is no more valid in the essence of legality. Not only this but also it is vital to document the consent taking for future medico-legal references. Ideally, a duplicate of the consent document should be handed over to the patient so that both parties possess the requisite information with them which can be reproduced when need be (Trehan, Sankhari, 2002).

As far as the legal perspectives of informed consent are considered, the practices vary in the United Kingdom and the USA. While a patient-based approach is used in the American and Commonwealth states, England enjoys a doctor-based approach (Hassan 2008).
The law regarding informed consent is not straightforward and includes certain variations such as in cases of patients who cannot make their own decisions. Such cases fall under the Mental Capacity Act 2005 in Wales and England (GMC 2005).

Throughout the history of medico-legal practice, several cases have been brought to light where failure to obtain any consent whatsoever or failure to obtain informed consent has led both the physician and nurse to punishments and jails. One such case occurred in 1979 in Idaho where a nurse was disciplined for telling patients about alternative treatments (The Law, Science & Public Health Law Site 1998).
In another incident labeled “Rogers v. Lumbermens Mutual Casualty Company” back in 1960, the issue of blanket consent was raised and labeled as inappropriate and not legal anymore while obtaining consent.

In yet another case that took place in 2003, a patient requested to be told about the drug being administered to him by the nurse. The nurse told him that the drug was fentanyl, similar to morphine. On this, the patient rejected to be given the drug in question and asked for the physician. However, the nurse falsely claimed to have changed the drug to morphine and administered it to the patient. As a result of this practice, a battery claim was made by the patient (Lawandbioethics.com 2012).

In an instance in 1991, a nurse inserted an in-dwelling catheter against the will of the patient which led to a legal case in which the nurse was charged with battery. In short, several examples can be seen which indicate the importance of informed consent in nursing practice.  Read More