What constitutes expressed consent?

Expressed consent is characterized by direct communication of permission from a patient for a healthcare provider to proceed with a specific treatment or procedure. This form of consent is typically explicit and can be verbal or written, making it clear that the patient understands the proposed intervention and agrees to it.

In practice, expressed consent is essential in upholding patient autonomy and ensuring informed decision-making. It involves providing the patient with adequate information about the risks, benefits, and alternatives associated with the treatment, allowing them to make a knowledgeable choice based on that information. This is particularly important in healthcare settings to ensure ethical standards are met and to safeguard the rights of the patient.

The other options do not accurately reflect the concept of expressed consent. Implicit agreement in emergencies may refer to circumstances where consent is assumed based on the situation, but it does not constitute explicit permission from the patient. Assumed consent during routine visits does not imply that a patient has actively agreed to or understood a specific procedure, and consent that is never documented lacks the necessary legal and ethical framework to be recognized as valid consent.