NMIH302 Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: Thought Disorder, Mental Health Act 2007, Mental Disorder
Document Summary
The law was developed to ensure that people get the best possible care and treatment and receive it in a way that is the least restrictive on them. The act clearly sets out the expectations on health services and health professionals. The characteristics of involuntary admission may cause implications on the relationship between the nurse and the consumer. Consumers who believe that they have few rights and are unjustly restricted by their status under the act, may be less likely to engage in a working relationship with their allocated nurse. Where someone is an involuntary patient under mental health legislation, a nurse can exert social control over them. For example, they can make them take medication that they don"t want to take; they can restrain them and they can seclude them under medical authority. The legislation therefore limits the consumer"s legal capacity to refuse or consent to treatment. These circumstances potentially puts nurses at risk of becoming paternalistic.
