Right to Refuse Treatment Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Right to Refuse Treatment - Research Paper Example The right to refuse treatment is now well established for some kinds of patients, especially in cases of psychiatric treatment. Different states have adopted various procedures of addressing the right to refuse treatment and for the overriding of this refusal. Oregon's administrative procedure for override depends on an evaluation by an independent examining psychiatrist. Every state has laws governing the right to refuse medical treatment and advance directives about this right. It is essential for nurses to ensure that they are familiar with the legislations of their state. There is a complex relationship between the right to refuse treatment and the right to treatment. The Right to refuse treatment includes the right to refuse involuntary hospitalization. (Godard, Bloom, Williams, and Faulkner, 1998) More often than not, Nurses find themselves in the front line when the situation arises to deal with patients that refuse medication or treatment. Evidently, a voluntary patient has the right to refuse treatment and must not be treated against his or her consent, with the exception being in situations in which the patient becomes actively to others or to himself. The right to refuse treatment is closely related to the rights of the Mentally Disabled Persons, and every Nurse is required to be familiar with the guidelines laid down in the laws of the State in which they practice, so that they can administer medications properly to committed patients as well involuntary patients. Within the last 30 years, there has been a shift in opinion concerning patients’ right to make their own medical treatment decisions.