Overview
Introduction
A consent form is not the consent. Consent is a patient’s voluntary agreement to a specific treatment after receiving the information a reasonable person would need to decide.
A consent form is not the consent. Consent is a patient’s voluntary agreement to a specific treatment after receiving the information a reasonable person would need to decide. Capacity is the patient’s ability to make that decision at that time. The practical nurse protects both rights by noticing when understanding, freedom from pressure, or decision-making ability is in doubt and by stopping the process before an invalid signature becomes permission for treatment.