informed consent (texas)?

[jennifers]

I worked in a previous state and we were never allowed to get informed consent. that was the dr or surgeons job. Now at the hospital i'm working at in Texas it is normal routine for the nurse to have the patient fill out the consent. I was told that in Texas the dr can write an order for the nurse to obtain consent. Does anyone know if this is true? I'm not really sure where to look to find the answer on this. It makes me uncomfortable.

[NurseAdida]

the standards for obtaining 'informed consent' vary from state to state. mostly you are not really obtaining the consent per se, you are merely witnessing the signature. in all cases, the doc is supposed to do the actual 'informing'. i have been asked a variety of questions over the years that let me know that not all the questions have been answered. "if they take my bladder out, how will i pee?" (it was a cholecystectomy, the pt didn't realize that we have 2 bladders!)

sweetyockris - please grow up a bit - this is not a text-messaging site, and your lack of professionalism is disturbing. i am certain you are not charting in the manner you have addressed us here. most of us are well-past our twenties.

quit generalizing...not everyone in their twenties writes like that...i don't write like that. thanks!!!

[Nikkitee99]

I actually find arrogance and condescension far more troubling than shorthand text. Perhaps Nurse Ratchett would b well served by being less conservative and uptight and joining the current century. The poster was not being unprofessional and this is not the workplace. It's an online forum for people to chit chat about patient care and the field of nursing. I can only hope this RN treats her patients with more respect than she does her colleagues. I am not in my twenties, practice as an advanced practice NP and have been a practicing RN for 15 years. Nobody likes being talked down to and your comment to the short hander says much more about you than it does her.

[Batman25]

If the surgeon hasn't spoken to the patient directly about he surgery, risks, etc. there is no informed consent. Patient should not be asked to sign under those circumstances. That is a huge liability issue. The nurses don't ask the patients to sign at my facility. It's the best way to control that informed consent really has been obtained and it can cut down on wait times in the OR for those that would still have questions when it hadn't been. It works well.

[Horseshoe, BSN, RN]

I actually find arrogance and condescension far more troubling than shorthand text. Perhaps Nurse Ratchett would b well served by being less conservative and uptight and joining the current century. The poster was not being unprofessional and this is not the workplace. It's an online forum for people to chit chat about patient care and the field of nursing. I can only hope this RN treats her patients with more respect than she does her colleagues. I am not in my twenties, practice as an advanced practice NP and have been a practicing RN for 15 years. Nobody likes being talked down to and your comment to the short hander says much more about you than it does her.

While I agree with you that it has nothing to do with being "unprofessional" since this is not the workplace, I totally disagree that text speak is appropriate to a message forum. It's extremely difficult to read and really rather annoying.

If she is typing on a phone or something, I guess I can see why she might abbreviate every other word, but really if she has a keyboard, it just seems considerate to go ahead and type in normal English. It doesn't take any longer.

[Nikkitee99]

Point taken. I suppose it doesn't bother me because I am so accustomed to it at my workplace. I get text paged multiple times per day and have grown used to receiving and answering in short format. Simple sign of changing times and you can adapt or not adapt. Big bulky paper charts, now electronic. Bedside charts, now computer terminals. Long hand, now shorthand. While I acknowledge texting isn't necessarily professional, I was looking for an answer to a question I had about informed consents. I found it. I do apologize for calling the person Nurse Ratchett. That demonstrated poor form without a doubt, and likewise says more about me in that moment than her. She just came across as someone who takes herself a little too seriously.