Abstract

HERNANDEZ RUIZ, Anabel; CASTILLO CUELLO, José Julián; DELGADO FERNANDEZ, Rebeca Iracema  and  SOLIZ SANTOS, Luis Carlos. Usefulness of informed consent in the polyvalent unit of Joaquín Albarrán Hospital. Rev Hum Med [online]. 2014, vol.14, n.3, pp.589-601. ISSN 1727-8120.

Introduction: Informed consent is a procedure that offers full opportunity for patients to have access to information and participate in medical decision-makings. However, it is believed that the information given by the doctors are not fully understood by the patients, their families or both, and besides that many doctors consider it as a second tool or something that doesn't have to be done right away. Objective: Evaluate the perception and experience of the health staff of the polyvalent unit of the surgical clinical teaching hospital Joaquin Albarrán about informed consent. Method: Descriptive study carried out in the polyvalent unit of Joaquin Albarrán Hospital from January to march 2013. A survey was given to 67 workers who voluntarily agreed to answer it. Results: The 60% of the participants had been working in the unit for less than 2 years and only 45% of them had basic knowledge of medical ethics. Only 50% of the participants considered that this procedure could help to improve doctor-patient relationship. Conclusions: It is necessary to increase the knowledge of the usefulness of the informed consent among the workers of the unit to have full profit from it.

Keywords : informed consent; personal autonomy; bioethics.

        · abstract in Spanish     · text in Spanish     · Spanish ( pdf )