Consent and the role of the dental nurse

Aim

To gain a better understanding of the consent process and the dental nursing role.

Objectives

This article meets GDC development outcomes A,B,C,D

Consent may not be an area that seems important to your role as a dental nurse. It may be seen as an area for the clinician to address, but there have been significant changes in recent years that mean consent has become a process that involves the nurse at every avenue.

For consent to be true and meaningful it must be informed (NHS, 2019). This means the patient must know the benefits and pitfalls, the risks and all the options (including doing nothing). They also need to know the costs involved so they can make an informed choice about their care. We must always ensure that the patient can understand the information they are given. Having consent forms that patients sign have their place, but we need to ensure patients understand all elements of them, including what all the more complex words mean. If they put their signature on the consent form but do not clearly understand what they are signing, then have they really consented?