Help with the life of a surgical consent!

[lostpinesornurse]

We are a JACHO facuilty and are medical records dept is telling us that surgical consents are only good for 24 hours. I have been an RNC for 25 years and know that is not true, but can't find anything to support it.

Help! Thanks :balloons:

[uptoRNin04]

A surgical consent should only be good for the date written on it, hence, 24 hours. As long as it is dated, and it should be, it is only good for that date. A delay in surgery would mean a different consent form.

[jmgrn65, RN]

yep what she said...

[chartleypj]

I have worked in 4 facilities over the past 31 years, including working for the federal government. At each facility, a hospital policy dictated how long a consent was good, and under which conditions it would be nullified.

Our consents were good for 30 days unless there was a specific reason to obtain a new consent i.e., change in surgeon, procedure, side,site, or change in pt medical condition/mental status indicating a need to revisit the consent.

I hope this helps,

Paula

[shodobe]

It really depends on where you are working, but in California the consent is good as long as the patient is admitted. Also, there should be no change in the procedure language and the competency of the patient should not have changed. Surgeons will usually go and talk with the patient again to review what is to occur and make sure the patient hasn't changed their mind. To quote the California Hospital Assoc. Consent Manual 2006:

Duration of Informed Consent

"Informed consent may be considered to have continuing force and effect until the patient revokes the consent or until circumstances change so as to materially affect the nature of, or the risks of, the procedure and/or the alternatives to the procedure to which the patient consented. For example, if a patient has been admitted for a specific course of treatment, including a specific operation, but in the course of studying the patient several days elaspse and the anticipated operation changes considerably, the physician should obtain a new informed consent."

So you can see the 24 hours is not necessary, but in some circumstances where policies state a new consent must be obtained after 24 hours, the policy must be adhered to. This is California so other states may be different.

[boriquarn]

24 hrs in Florida

24 hrs. in SC

[southerngirl67]

I think it is at least 48 hrs in MS.

[NRSKarenRN, BSN, RN]

each hopsital accepting medicare and medicaid funds must follow federal govenments conditions of participation for hospitals :2004 cfr title 42, volume 3

482.51 condition of participation:

surgical services.

standard: delivery of service.

surgical services must be consistent with

needs and resources. policies governing

surgical care must be designed to assure

the achievement and maintenance

of high standards of medical practice

and patient care.

(1) there must be a complete history

and physical work-up in the chart of

every patient prior to surgery, except

in emergencies. if this has been dictated,

but not yet recorded in the patient's

chart, there must be a statement

to that effect and an admission

note in the chart by the practitioner

who admitted the patient.

(2) a properly executed informed consent

form for the operation must be in

the patient's chart before surgery, except

in emergencies.

states have their own regulations under dept of health usually that need to be followed--federal regs triumph over state in courts of law.

pa's regs have no time frame. surgical services ... 135.1

then you have our friends at jcaho.

tx.5.2 before obtaining informed consent, the risks, benefits, and potential .... assessment is conducted within a time frame specified by hospital policy

final answer: up to facility policy and procedure to determine timeframe or more detailed state regs.

[passionate]

Consents have always been institution dependent in my practice. I go with that. What does joint commission say?

[BloodNGuts]

Our surgical consents are worded such that they are only good on the actual date indicated on the consent. If the surgery is canceled and rescheduled for another day, we would need a consent for that specific date.