Analysis of Patient Rights, Caregiver Relationships, and Abuse Issues

This report provides a comprehensive overview of patient rights, the crucial relationship between patients and caregivers, and the ethical considerations within healthcare. It explores the patient's right to self-determination, emphasizing their autonomy in medical decisions, as outlined by the Patient Self-Determination Act of 1990. The report details various patient rights, including the right to information, quality treatment, access to patient advocates, and the right to refuse treatment. Furthermore, it addresses the sensitive topics of senior and child abuse, highlighting their signs and reporting procedures. The concept of informed consent is thoroughly examined, including its different forms like implied, authorization, and statutory consent, along with the ethical implications. The report references key sources to support its findings and offers valuable insights into the complexities of patient care and ethical practice. This document is available on Desklib for students to study and learn.

Description of patients and caregiver relationship
For effective delivery of quality care, there needs to be a good relationship between the
caregiver and the patient. One of the steps that a caregiver and patient can take to improve their
relationship includes learning to ask for help. Normally, the relationship between the patient and
caregiver is complex since it involves challenging scenarios (Birkeland & Gildberg, 2016). Hence,
to build trust between them, the patient needs to be able to request help from the caregiver
whenever it’s needed and also, the caregiver needs to ask for help from the patient in clarifying a
concern for the purpose of providing quality care.
Patient’s right to self-determination
The patient’s right to self-determination stipulates that when making decisions about
healthcare procedures, patients have autonomy of intentions, thoughts, and actions (Beigbeder,
2017). This means that the patient’s decision-making process about a particular healthcare
procedure must be free from coercion and the medical practitioner can only advise the patient but
not decide for the patient (Wolf, Berlinge & Jennings, 2015). The patient's right to self-determination
is based on the patient's self-determination Act of 1990 which stipulates that the state law gives
any person the liberty to make decisions with regard to his or her medical care (Wellman, 2018).
This liberty includes the right to accept or refuse surgical treatment.
Description of patients’ rights
The patient/clients have various rights. The most notable ones include the right to
disclosure of information which stipulates that the patients must be provided with medical
information regarding their medical status (Wellman, 2018). The patients also have a right to ask
questions about the medication being administered to them. They also have a right to quality

treatment which will respond to their needs. Moreover, patients have the right to access to patient
advocate in case their rights have been violated. They also have a right to patient education and
most importantly, they have a right to refuse treatment.
Description of senior and child abuse
Senior abuse happens when an older person is harmfully treated either verbally,
emotionally, financially, mentally, sexually or physically (Wellman, 2018). On the other hand,
child abuse happens when a person under 18 years of age is subjected to maltreatment either
physical, mentally, emotionally and sexually (Wellman, 2018). The signs of abuse in older
people and children are the same and they include corporal punishment, seclusion, and
involuntary restraint. Most countries have child protective services where child abuse is directed
to for action. Regarding senior abuse, the caregivers report the abuse to relevant authorities by
the caregiver.
Description of informed consent
Stipulates that the patient should be informed of the risks and benefits of the medical operation
he is to be subjected to (Beigbeder, 2017). Consent and ethics refer to seeking permission about
the medical procedure to be carried out on the patient by taking into consideration all the ethical
issues that can arise in the process. This means that there is a need to assess if the patient is at the
right condition to grand permission for treatment before seeking consent from that patient
(Birkeland & Gildberg, 2016). Adequacy consent happens when consent is sought from a person
less than 18 years or those with disabilities. Capacity consent happens when the patient cannot
make consent and there is no one close to him to make consent on his behalf. The consent can be
proved through a written document of the patient agreeing to the procedure. Authorization for

consent happens when the patient grants permission for the medical procedure to be carried out.
Implied consent happens when the patient’s actions or circumstance grand permission for a
medical procedure to be carried out. The right to refuse treatment is simply the right of patients
to say no to some medical procedures through appropriate documentation. Statutory consent
refers to the permission granted by the law for some medical procedures to be carried out without
necessarily the patient’s permission.
Reference

Birkeland, S., & Gildberg, F. A. (2016). Mental health nursing, mechanical restraint measures
and patients’ legal rights. The open nursing journal, 10, 8.
Beigbeder, Y. (2017). International Public Health: Patients' Rights Vs. the Protection of Patents.
Routledge.
Wolf, S. M., Berlinger, N., & Jennings, B. (2015). Forty years of work on end-of-life care—from
patients' rights to systemic reform.
Wellman, C. (2018). The proliferation of rights: Moral progress or empty rhetoric?. Routledge.