Informed consent: Part III

Perioperative nurses are concerned about their patients understanding the procedures they will undergo. The legal system agrees that patients have the right to be informed about and consent to surgical procedures; informed consent is a legal right. No state, however, has recognized a formal role for the perioperative nurse in the enforcement of this right. Case law has consistently found that the necessary interchange for informed consent is vested in the patient-physician relationship, and it views broadening this legal responsibility as more disruptive than beneficial. When everyone is responsible, it is more difficult to ensure that someone actually talks to the patient. Present law makes that someone the surgeon. The role of the perioperative nurse includes informing the surgeon if the patient's informed consent has not been documented in accordance with agency policy, documenting having done so, and taking any additional actions required by agency policy. Perioperative nurses who suspect overreaching by surgeons should inform their administrators. The perioperative nurse should not unilaterally get involved in the physician-patient relationship. The patient has sought the services of the surgeon, not the nurse.