Adherence to informed consent standards in Shiraz hospitals: matrons’ perspective

Abstract

Background: Informed consent is an important part of the patients' rights and hospitals are assigned to obtain informed consent before any diagnostic or therapeutic procedures. Obtaining an informed consent enables patients to accept or reject their care or treatments and prevent future contentions among patients and medical staff. Methods: This survey was carried out during 2011-2. We assessed adherence of 33 Shiraz hospitals (governmental and non-governmental) to informed consent standards defined by Joint Commission International (JCI) Accreditation, USA. The questionnaire was designed using the Delphi method and then filled out by hospital matrons. We calculated valid percent frequency for each part of the questionnaire and compared these frequencies in governmental and nongovernmental hospitals using analytical statistics. Results: Considering 63% of the hospitals that filled out the questionnaire, no statistically significant difference was observed between the governmental and non-governmental hospitals in adherence to informed consent standards. Conclusion: This study shows a relatively acceptable adherence to standards about informed consent in Shiraz hospitals but the implementation seems not to be as satisfactory.

Assessing informed consent practices during normal vaginal delivery and immediate postpartum care in tertiary-level hospitals of Bangladesh

“…A study revealed the practice of obtaining verbal consent from mothers during procedures in postpartum care, whereas informed consent is in place for surgery, invasive procedure, anaesthesia, and using blood products 7 . Some other studies in different countries identified the non-compliance of the national standard protocols, raised ethical and legal questions, and suggested that the issue regarding respectful maternity care needs to be addressed 13 , 14 .…”

“…Any examination, intervention or treatment especially for pregnant women without informed consent is considered an assault, and consent should be sought from the mother before proceeding examinations, delivery and postpartum care 4,5 . Studies conducted in health facilities worldwide indicate that women experienced some forms of disrespect or abuse, in the form of non-consented services during facility delivery and postpartum care, surgery, invasive procedure, anaesthesia, and use of blood products 6,7 . There are currently no available data on this AFFILIATION 1 BRAC, Dhaka, Bangladesh 2 icddr,b, Dhaka, Bangladesh 3 UNICEF, Dhaka, Bangladesh Assessing informed consent practices during normal vaginal delivery and immediate postpartum care in tertiary-level hospitals of Bangladesh issue in the context of Bangladesh, especially in tertiarylevel hospitals.…”