[Patient autonomy and informed consent in clinical practice]

Area of Science:

• Medical Ethics
• Health Law

Context:

• Patient autonomy and informed consent are increasingly central to clinical practice, ethics, and healthcare legislation.
• Norwegian legal regulations regarding informed consent are examined against common norms.

Purpose:

• To analyze literature on patient autonomy and informed consent.
• To compare common norms with Norwegian legal regulations.

Summary:

• Informed consent procedures can enhance patient participation and prevent unwanted treatments, aligning with patient autonomy principles.
• Autonomy requires understanding, competence, and voluntary consent, which are not always achievable in clinical settings.
• Norwegian law places significant responsibility on healthcare personnel when patients lack competence, with recent expansions in authority to use force.

Impact:

• High demands are placed on healthcare personnel's ethics, communication skills, and role understanding.
• Assessing patient competence to consent is likely to become a significant challenge for Norwegian healthcare professionals.