Implications for advanced practitioners
The right of every person to have his/her bodily integrity protected from invasion by others is recognised in common law (Brazier and Harris, 1996). Similarly, the respect for individual patients and clients to make autonomous decisions in relation to their treatment is enshrined in codes of professional conduct. Advanced practitioners have a duty of care to understand and apply the legal and ethical principles which underpin consent to treatment. Achieving this is not without its challenges but the concept of respect for the individual is one of the fundamental tenets of nursing.
