Consent to Treatment

Consent to Treatment
Student Name
University Name
Student Note

Introduction
Consent to treatment is a relatively new addition to the medical treatment procedure. This refers
to the process of acquiring the permission or consent of the patient, before they are provided with
any medical treatment by a healthcare facility. This method is applicable to a varied range of
medical processes from physical examination, general assessments to critical procedures like
craniotomy or organ donation procedures or even during caring for the dying.
The consent should be voluntary where the patient can decide whether they want to choose what
procedures they want to undergo or they trust the healthcare professionals to make that decision
for them. The consent should also be informed, where the patient is given all the required
information of the procedure they are about to undergo, including the risks, benefits, and
alternatives.
Discussion
Consent is a very crucial part of a medical procedure and can be done via the means of verbal
communication or by documentation (Sahealth.sa.gov.au 2019). Verbal communication is often
only possible in mentally stable patients, who can be informed about the risks and significance of
the medical procedures they are about to undergo (Sahealth.sa.gov.au 2019). However, in cases,
where the medical procedure is to be done on a critically ill patient, who is not in a stable mental
state, and is incapable of making informed decisions, consent is often taken form their family
members in case there is no previous documentation of the patient’s consent regarding the matter
(Hall, Prochazka and Fink 2012). Another form of non-verbal communication is often seen in
healthcare facilities, where the patient, being unable to verbally communicate but mentally alert,