Understanding Informed Consent

According to the website RNCentral.com there is an article, “Do You Understand Informed Consent,” and they believe since the nurse does not perform the surgery or procedure, getting the patient or parent’s signature is not part of their jurisdiction. If there is a miscommunication and the guardian does not fully understand how the procedure works, the nurse is supposed to notify the doctor or nursing supervisor. Therefore, their thoughts are that the nurse’s role should only be to make sure the one giving informed consent comprehends what is going on. Sometimes the child and their family does not pay attention due to the shock of the diagnoses, or they might feel dumb asking the physician questions. Also, according the article “Nurses’ Roles

The one explained in the scholarly article, “When Parents Refuse a Sick Teenager the Right to Give Informed Consent: The Nurse’s Role” narrows in on a case of a 15 year old Jewish boy with acute myeloblastic leukemia. According to the Jewish law, he was labeled a man at the age of 13. This causes a difficult situation because the medical staff is not sure if to follow the Jewish laws, which would allow the boy to give informed consent, or have to parents give informed consent since he is not 18. This article opens up the idea that nurses have to role to decide if the child has the capability to make medical decisions for themselves and has the capacity to understand the situation. It also suggests that, “within the hospital team nurses have the right to autonomy of judgement and decision and in conflicted situations, such as the one described here” (109). This means if the parents cannot come up with a definite answer, the nurses have the right to decide what is best for the child. Also, this article explains the conflicts when parents and medical staff disagree. Many problems can be caused by this issue such as, “what extent is it possible to scrutinize the way devoted parents should act” (108). Then, in another scholarly article, “The Role of The Pediatric Nurse in Promoting Pediatric Right to Consent,” gives specific characteristics that nurses should look for in children to determine how capable they are. Which consist of, “competence, voluntariness, disclosure, recommendation, understanding, decision and authorization” (292). It also proposes that nurses should be able to judge the child’s education level and use it to teach them about their health at a quantity that is appropriate. Which will allows the kid to have more of a say in the circumstances than if the nurse were to talk to him or her at a higher