[The Use of Informed Consent in Clinical Nursing Practice]

Obtaining informed consent and ensuring patient autonomy are critical to implementing a patient-centered model of healthcare. Informed consent is a complex process of communication that includes three elements: disclosure, competence in making decisions, and voluntariness. However, individual patient factors, doctor-patient interaction, and cultural issues are known to influence the process of obtaining informed consent. Individual patient factors include the ability of patients to understand and determine their intent; doctor-patient interaction includes communication skills; and cultural issues include the expectations of patients with regard to family involvement in medical decision-making and in decision-making motives. After assessing the relevant influencing factors, healthcare providers typically provide patients with comprehensive information on the benefits and risks of treatment as well as related alternatives. Moreover, healthcare providers typically provide patients with audio/video, Internet, and written information with illustrations based on individual patient needs. In addition to the above, we suggest that healthcare providers proactively adopt the perspective of patients in order to better encourage patients to address questions, to engage with patients in more productive discussions, and to take the initiative to explain and clarify patients' questions in order to minimize anxiety. This approach will help ensure that patients are adequately informed and free from coercion so that they make appropriate healthcare-related decisions. However, even under this optimal situation, healthcare providers must emphasize the needs of their patients and respect their decisions.