Informed Consent and: Mechanism to Bedside

Informed consent is an ongoing decision process, not a signature. For an Ontario treatment, a capable person decides whether to consent, refuse, delay, or withdraw consent. Valid consent must relate to the proposed treatment, be informed and voluntary, and not be obtained through misrepresentation or fraud. Capacity is a separate question: it concerns whether the person can understand the information relevant to this treatment and appreciate the reasonably foreseeable consequences of deciding or not deciding. The RN protects autonomy by checking for unanswered questions, coercion, communication barriers, and capacity concerns before participating in treatment.