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Informed consent refers to the process of interaction between a patient and a surgeon before a surgery or an invasive procedure (MAPS, 2016). More than 30% of Americans do not understand general medical information. An Informed consent form helps patients to understand critical health information before surgeries or invasive procedures. Not only does it help patients, it is the right of every patient to be provided with information before any procedure.
As such, the Minnesota Alliance for Patient Safety (MAPS) has developed an informed consent form to help improve patient understanding. The specified improvement is crucial since it allows making informed decisions and respecting patients’ right to accept or refuse the suggested care. Therefore, it is important that there should be understanding between a patient and a healthcare practitioner concerning the management of the relevant information.
Comparing MAPS Form with Pogzar’s Text
Pozgar’s (2016) text requires the practitioner to refer the patient to other specialists for specialist treatment in case complications arise during the main procedure. (Pozgar, 2016) This section of the text also requires the surgeon or doctor to explain the reason for the procedure, the expected outcome, and risk facing the patient undergoing the procedure. The Minnesota Alliance for Patient Safety (MAPS) informed consent form complies with these requirements as stated in Pogzar’s text.
According to Pozgar’s (2016) description of the requirements for the informed consent, it is crucial to include the essential information about the disorder from which the patient suffers. The identified element is present in the MAPS consent form since it requires to fill in the information about the reasons for being admitted to the hospital. Furthermore, the form compels the patient to confirm that they have got themselves familiar with the details of the procedure and, therefore, accept it (Pozgar, 2016).
However, the form does not allow indicating the details of the treatment, which seems to be a major omission. The form, however, includes the details such as the reason for the procedure, i.e., it sheds light on the purpose of the treatment in accordance with the template provided by Pozgar (2016). The statement concerning the patient’s awareness of the associated risks, as well as the alternative treatment methods, is included into the MAPS template, although it does not allow for a detailed description of the identified issues. The form also allows the patient to indicate whether they are aware of the prognosis of refusing from the treatment (Pozgar, 2016).
Likewise, the form can be used to show that the patient is fully aware of the nature of the suggested intervention. The form requires providing not only the signature of the patient and the physician but also the witness and, if possible, the interpreter.
The identified elements allow not only meeting the requirements and standards set by Pozgar (2016, p. 327), i.e., providing the patient’s signature and date, but also point to the fact that the process of verifying and confirming the necessary information is carried out according to the existing legal standards. The signatures of witnesses, therefore, make the consent form designed by MAPS a perfect example of receiving an informed consent from a patient before an invasive procedure or surgery (Pozgar, 2016).
Therefore, the MAPS informed consent form can be viewed as an important tool for receiving confirmation from a patient regarding their agreement to undergo an invasive procedure or surgery. While some of the elements could use more elaboration, the current consent form is rather adequate. It could be suggested, though, that the opportunities for describing the procedures and treatments, as well as their alternatives, to patients could be provided (Pozgar, 2016). Thus, with minor adjustments, the selected form can be utilized to receive an informed consent from patients before carrying out invasive interventions or surgeries.
References
MAPS. (2016). Informed consent. Web.
Pozgar, G. D. (2016). Pharmacy (12th ed.). Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning.