Law and Ethics
Laws are a familiar concept, and provide a basic social framework of right and wrong to which the majority adhere. Ethical theories may also be applied to all issues of uncertainty, including those not covered by laws or professional guidelines. They create a mechanism within which issues of moral uncertainty may be questioned and resolved (Jones 1994). One such area of moral dilemma is that of informed consent.
In it’s simplest terms, consent may be defined as giving permission:
“… in current usage consent is defined as a voluntary compliance, or as a permission. ‘I consent’ means ‘I freely agree to your proposal’, which is an explicit statement that my consent to a certain course of action has been sought and granted without any element of coercion.” (Faulder 1985:32)
However, in recent years this definition of consent has been deemed inadequate. Consent may be regarded as invalid if the consenting individual does not know what they are consenting to. It is for this reason that the adjective ‘informed’ has been used to clarify it’s meaning (Tschudin 1989).
Faulder (1985) states that the medical profession is divided as to the exact meaning and purpose of informed consent. This is particularly true in the field of midwifery and obstetrics where this has recently become a key issue, despite the existence of a number of professional guidelines such as the Code of Professional Conduct (United Kingdom Central Council for Nursing, Midwifery and Health Visiting (UKCC) 1992). This is in part due to the reluctance of many in the medical profession to adopt this new ideology. The age of informed consent brings with it enormous changes to the previously paternalistic health service. The Changing Childbirth Report (Department of Health 1993) with it’s ethos of woman centred care emphasises the need to empower clients by providing them with adequate information to make their own decisions. It is the right to know, and the right to say no. (Tschudin 1989)
In it’s simplest terms, consent may be defined as giving permission:
“… in current usage consent is defined as a voluntary compliance, or as a permission. ‘I consent’ means ‘I freely agree to your proposal’, which is an explicit statement that my consent to a certain course of action has been sought and granted without any element of coercion.” (Faulder 1985:32)
However, in recent years this definition of consent has been deemed inadequate. Consent may be regarded as invalid if the consenting individual does not know what they are consenting to. It is for this reason that the adjective ‘informed’ has been used to clarify it’s meaning (Tschudin 1989).
Faulder (1985) states that the medical profession is divided as to the exact meaning and purpose of informed consent. This is particularly true in the field of midwifery and obstetrics where this has recently become a key issue, despite the existence of a number of professional guidelines such as the Code of Professional Conduct (United Kingdom Central Council for Nursing, Midwifery and Health Visiting (UKCC) 1992). This is in part due to the reluctance of many in the medical profession to adopt this new ideology. The age of informed consent brings with it enormous changes to the previously paternalistic health service. The Changing Childbirth Report (Department of Health 1993) with it’s ethos of woman centred care emphasises the need to empower clients by providing them with adequate information to make their own decisions. It is the right to know, and the right to say no. (Tschudin 1989)