who can sign patient informed consent?

Statutory Guidelines for Legal Consent for Medical Treatment:
Those who consent to medical treatment are governed by state law but generally include the following:
I AdultsA. Any competent individual 18 years of age or older for himself or herself
B. Any parent for his or her unemancipated minor
C. Any guardian for his or her ward
D. Any adult for the treatment of his or her minor brother or sister (if an emergency and parents are not present)
E. Any grandparent for a minor grandchild (if an emergency and parents are not present)II Minors
A. For his or her child and any child in his or her legal custody
B. For himself or herself in the following situations:1. Lawfully married or a parent (emancipated)
2. Pregnancy (excluding abortions)
3. Venereal disease
4. Drug or substance abuseC. Unemancipated minors may not consent to abortions without one of the following:1. Consent of one parent
2. Self-consent granted by court order
3. Consent specifically given by a court
my question is can a 16 yrs old child sign consent form for hir or her parents? Last edit by JustBeachyNurse on Feb 17, '13 : Reason: formatting/spacing
No, as a minor, a 16 year old cannot sign consent for a parent. If the parent is unable to sign, the order is usually: POA (if there is one), spouse, parent, sibling. For those who don't have any of those and are unable to sign their own consent, the court can appoint someone to act on the patient's behalf. In the case of emergency, implied consent is used. Say someone comes in unconscious with a gunshot to the chest, is actively dying, and will die without surgical intervention. That patient is taken into surgery without a signed consent form. This is why it is important for everyone to set up a health care POA.From: Chapter 1 - Preventive Law in the Medical Environment - THE EMERGENCY EXCEPTIONThe legal requirement for obtaining consent before the rendering of medical care has always been tempered by the privilege to render emergency medical care without the patient's consent. This privilege is based on the theory of implied consent. The law assumes that an unconscious patient would consent to emergency care if the patient were conscious and able to consent. This is a "reasonable man" standard; that is the law assumes that reasonable person would want medical care in an emergency. The assumption of "reasonable" behavior is allowed only if the patient has not put the health care providers on notice that the patient refuses care. The health care providers may rely upon implied consent only in the absence of consent. Implied consent can never overrule the explicit rejection of medical care. This is very important for certain religious groups and can cause a great deal of confusion in an emergency room. There should be an explicit protocol to deal with persons with objections to medical care (as discussed later in this chapter).

The simple answer is no. A minor cannot consent for their adult parent (or sibling)

So a minor cannot sign a informed consent for his or her parents even he or she is 18 or older. Can anyone explain Part II/B on my post above for me? I quite do not understand. Thank you!

Quote from Trang5891So a minor cannot sign a informed consent for his or her parents even he or she is 18 or older.

Quote from Trang5891So a minor cannot sign a informed consent for his or her parents even he or she is 18 or older. Can anyone explain Part II/B on my post above for me? I quite do not understand. Thank you!

In your original question you asked if a 16 year old child could sign the consent for his/her parent.. that answer would be No. Someone 18 or older is not a child and can sign.. Did you mean to say 18 in your original question?

Unless it is a state where 19 is the age of majority, like Nebraska, an18 year old can legally sign consent on behalf of their incapacitated parent (though medication, injury,illness, etc). Though a spouse is first choice. When my father was critically ill, my adult sister and I alternated giving consents on his behalf so that my mother could sleep without disruption.

These laws/regulations may vary from state to state. OP needs to refer to the regs for a specific state.

the instances listed by OP only allow minors to give consent for themself, under specific circumstances.

So can a 16 yrs old married child sign consent form for parents? I got those infor from potter and perry textbook.

Quote from Trang5891So a minor cannot sign a informed consent for his or her parents even he or she is 18 or older. Can anyone explain Part II/B on my post above for me? I quite do not understand. Thank you!

Quote from Trang5891So can a 16 yrs old married child sign consent form for parents? I got those infor from potter and perry textbook.