Ethical issues surrounding informed consent: Part III. The crucial role of nursing in insuring valid consent

Three ethical principles upon which informed consent is founded are respect for persons, promotion of the best consequences, and rights. A valid informed consent--that is, one given by a person who has been informed, is competent, and has not been coerced--is one way of respecting persons, of enabling their rights. Consent given in the absence of information and competence, or in the presence of coercion, does not achieve these ends. Hence, it is not valid. The nurse is in a unique position to ensure the validity of consent. Nurses do this both by enhancing patients' opportunities for becoming informed and by observing for signs of incompetence and coercion. When the ability of a patient to execute a valid consent is compromised, the nurse needs to act to restore the patient's decision making capacities to the greatest level possible. Nursing's efforts in promoting morally valid consents are one way the profession recognizes the importance of each individual. This importance has been formally acknowledged by the American Nurses Association Code of Ethics (6). It is informally acknowledged when individual nurses act to maximize their patients' understanding and participation in the decisions surrounding health care. In helping patients to participate to the fullest possible extent, nurses show respect for the very unique human nature we all share. It is for this reason that insuring informed consent is worth whatever time and effort it takes.