Patient Autonomy and Informed Consent in Critically Ill A

Introduction: Patient autonomy has been a cornerstone of contemporary clinical ethics since the Nuremberg trial, especially in American school of bioethics. Topic: Patient autonomy has been defi ned in the Nuremberg Code, and re-defi ned in the Declaration of Helsinki, Belmont Report and Barcelona Declaration. Founders and followers of the rights-oriented bioethics (for example, Hellegers, Beauchamp and Childers) have established and promoted the patient autonomy as the main principle of bio(medical) ethics since 1970s. However, there is a lot of controversy surrounding such a principle, especially in vulnerable patients. We aimed at evaluating the real meaning and value of patient autonomy in critical care settings regarding the communication between health workers and their patients and families. Conclusion: Protection of patients autonomy in critically ill is a complex issue. Careful benefi t-risk assessment is needed in order to fi nd the most appropriate way of obtaining the informed consent, proxy consent or to omit or delay it.