Ethical reflections of healthcare staff on 'consentless measures' in somatic care: A qualitative study.

ABSTRACT: BackgroundMany patients in medical wards lack decision-making capacity and cannot provide valid consent. As a result, nurses and other healthcare professionals often face a dilemma: whether to neglect the medical needs of such patients, or provide healthcare interventions without obtaining valid consent. Previous studies have indicated that many interventions are provided without consent; however, there is insufficient knowledge about how staff in this context reason about the ethical dilemmas they encounter.AimTo explore the ethical reasons provided by nurses and other healthcare professionals in medical wards for and against providing healthcare interventions without patients' consent.Research designThe study employed a qualitative explorative design. Eight focus group interviews were he

SUBMITTER: Bjork J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12550209 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature