Informed Consent

Informed Consent Forms:   A Critique
Team B:   Lisa Ready, Amber Bell and Elizabeth Brito
BSHS/332
July 12, 2010

Informed Consent Forms: A Critique
Every physician/clinician is ethically obligated and legally required to inform patients about the risk and benefits associated with the treatments that they may prescribe.   This process of communicating this information is called Informed Consent.   After passing on this information, the physician/clinician should have the patient sign an Informed Consent Form acknowledging that they understand what has been discussed.   Informed consent forms should include information in which the professional can observe competence, voluntariness, full information, and comprehension (Freeman, S.J. 2000).
Our learning team chose three different informed consent forms to critique.   The first informed consent document came from a public school in New York State.   This school was offering free H1N1 Flu Vaccines to the students.   The second form came from the Department of Health.   This agency was offering HIV Testing to individuals on a voluntary basis.   The third came from a dental practice, which offered dental treatments to patients.   Neither of the informed consent forms addressed dual relationships which are interactions between the client and the physician or clinician that exist beyond the one role of that professional, which can inhibit trust and may become harmful to the relationship building process that is necessary in the field of helping.  
All but one of the Informed Consent forms, (Document 3) met the elements of informed consent.   The element of competency was met for Document 1,as the students, who are underage, had to have the parents read and sign the form.   They were also met for Document 2, as you could only get tested for HIV if you had read the packet and signed saying that the information given was understood.   Document 3 required the patient to initial after each procedure if they understood the... [continues]

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