Consent to treatment: the role of the nurse.

liability protection The Supreme Court of Canada has described obtaining consent as a process, not merely paperwork. Vol. 3, No. 2, December 1994 Consent may be implicit or explicit. Holding out an arm to have a blood pressure taken is implicit consent, whereas an ECG or blood gases may require explicit consent. The main types of consent in the health care setting are general consent as required for admission to and basic care in a health care facility and specific consent for particular procedures or therapies to be performed. Consent must be valid and must not have been revoked or withdrawn.1