Patient Autonomy
The role patient education plays in autonomy
What is education empowers patients to make informed choices aligned with their values
This term refers to the process by which a patient voluntarily agrees to a proposed health care treatment after being fully informed of the risks, benefits, and alternatives.
What is informed consent?
Should a chiropractor discuss alternatives, including not getting treatment, during the consent process?
What is yes, it’s part of informed decision-making?
You watched a video where a chiropractor adjusted a patient without fully explaining the procedure. The patient looked confused and startled afterward. What key ethical step was missing?
What is full disclosure and verbal informed consent, regardless of a signed form?
What else is required beyond a signature to count as valid informed consent by the patient?
What is a conversation
True or False: provider can override a competent patient’s refusal of treatment.
What is false
This ethical principle is the foundation of informed consent and refers to a patient's right to make their own decisions about their health care.
What is patient autonomy?
A patient consents to a cervical adjustment, but you perform a different procedure. What’s the issue?
What is the lack of specific consent or potential battery?
A chiropractor gives a vague explanation of the procedure and doesn’t mention possible side effects, even though the patient asks if it’s safe. Committing this consent failure...
What is failing to disclose risks, which violates the ethical principle of transparency?
Before accepting consent, providers should ensure the patient is not under the influence of these.
What are drugs or alcohol (or mind-altering substances)?
The ethical principle that patient autonomy falls under
What is respect for person.
These are the obligations of health care providers to ensure patients are properly informed, treated ethically, and legally protected before treatment begins.
What are legal and ethical responsibilities?
Pushing a patient to consent quickly may breach ethical duties under this legal concept.
What is undue influence or coercion
A chiropractor assumes a returning patient already knows what to expect and skips the consent process during a new treatment technique. What’s the issue?
What is assuming implied or ongoing consent without confirming it for each new procedure?
Informed consent requires this and not just blind cooperation?
Understanding
A patient is clearly uncomfortable and hesitant, but the chiropractor continues explaining the procedure in medical jargon without checking understanding. What failure is occurring?
What is failure to ensure patient comprehension, which invalidates informed consent?
If a chiropractic patient is a minor or has a condition that impairs understanding, this individual must provide informed consent instead?
Who is a parent, legal guardian, or healthcare proxy?
A chiropractor talks over the patient’s concerns and pushes them to agree to a care plan on the spot, even after the patient asks for time to think. What ethical violation is this?
What is coercion or undue influence, which makes the consent involuntary and invalid?