Urologic nursing
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The drama of mergers, acquisitions, downsizing, and the managed redirection of health care resources away from acute care hospitals and high technology medicine has overshadowed another change in the contemporary health care culture--the growing interest in alternative health care. What is behind this phenomenon?
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Three ethical principles upon which informed consent is founded are respect for persons, promotion of the best consequences, and rights. A valid informed consent--that is, one given by a person who has been informed, is competent, and has not been coerced--is one way of respecting persons, of enabling their rights. Consent given in the absence of information and competence, or in the presence of coercion, does not achieve these ends. ⋯ It is informally acknowledged when individual nurses act to maximize their patients' understanding and participation in the decisions surrounding health care. In helping patients to participate to the fullest possible extent, nurses show respect for the very unique human nature we all share. It is for this reason that insuring informed consent is worth whatever time and effort it takes.