Published online by Cambridge University Press: 01 February 1998
Consent is a conceptual issue, and it can be argued that some of the most complex cases in assessing competence to consent arise when dealing with patients with dementia. This paper is concerned with the practical difficulties nurses face, an area for which there is little guidance.
Much of the literature relates to the ethics and legalities of informed consent for treatment or research, frequently in relation to medicine, philosophy and the law. Some frameworks are offered within these areas by which to assess a person‘s competence to consent, but they are of limited use in nursing.