The challenge of care : managing a confused patient in an inpatient setting

: This article looks at the issues around capacity and consent, focusing particularly on how nurses should assess the capacity of confused patients to make decisions about their treatments. It covers the legal framework, including the Mental Capacity Act, within which nurses must care for patients who, due to illness or incapacity, are unable to understand, consent to or cooperate with treatment. It emphasises the importance of training to give nurses the knowledge to assess risk and document it correctly, and have the confidence to be able to justify their actions if necessary.