Premium
Using Principles of Health Literacy to Enhance the Informed Consent Process
Author(s) -
Lorenzen Bonne,
Melby Constance E.,
Earles Barb
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
aorn journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.222
H-Index - 43
eISSN - 1878-0369
pISSN - 0001-2092
DOI - 10.1016/j.aorn.2008.03.001
Subject(s) - informed consent , disk formatting , health literacy , reading (process) , literacy , process (computing) , writing process , medical education , medicine , psychology , nursing , alternative medicine , computer science , health care , pedagogy , political science , law , pathology , operating system
THE LANGUAGE COMMONLY used in procedural/surgical consent forms often exceeds the average reading level of US patients, and many do not read the document before signing it. INCORPORATING READER‐FRIENDLY language and formatting makes it more likely that patients will read the document, understand it, and therefore give informed consent. Adding “teach back” into the document provides a means of evaluating patient understanding. USING READER‐FRIENDLY procedural/surgical consent documents merges the objectives of both health literacy and informed consent. AORN J 88 (July 2008) 23–29. © AORN, Inc, 2008.