An unconscious patient with a head injury needs immediate life-saving surgery.His wife speaks only French,and the health care providers,who are not fluent in French,are having a difficult time explaining his condition to her.In this situation,what must the nurse know?

Question

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In emergency situations,if it is impossible to obtain consent from the patient or an authorized person,the beneficial or life-saving procedure may be undertaken without liability for failure to obtain consent.In such cases,according to the law,the health care team would assume that the patient would wish to be given the treatment.This is referred to as the emergency doctrine.Two witnesses are required usually when telephone consents are involved.This is not the case in this situation.In an emergency,it is not necessary to contact the institutional review board;doing so would take up valuable time.A family member or acquaintance who is able to speak the patient's language should not be used to interpret health care information.An official interpreter must be available to explain the terms of consent (except in an emergency situation).

An Unconscious Patient with a Head Injury Needs Immediate Life-Saving