Who Can Legally Give Informed Consent for Surgery

Legal & Ethical Issues · Question from the ATI RN Leadership 2023 Proctored Exam study set

Correct answer: A conscious 40-year-old

Why this is the answer

Informed consent requires the patient to be of legal age, conscious, and mentally competent to understand the risks and benefits.

The bigger concept

Valid informed consent has three requirements the exam tests over and over: legal age (or emancipated/legally authorized minor), consciousness, and decision-making capacity. Sedation, dementia with impaired capacity, and minority each knock out one requirement. The provider explains the procedure, risks, benefits, and alternatives; the RN witnesses the signature and verifies the patient understood — if the patient has questions about the procedure itself, the nurse stops and calls the provider back rather than answering for them.

Related Legal & Ethical Issues practice questions

• Not Documenting a No-Harm Medication Error: Veracity
• Unjustified Restraint: False Imprisonment
• Leaving Against Medical Advice (AMA): Nurse's Role
• The 'Reasonable and Prudent Nurse' Standard: Negligence
• Staying Silent About a Doctor's Mistake: Non-Maleficence

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