What term describes touching a patient without consent?

What term describes touching a patient without consent?

• A. Battery
• B. Negligence
• C. Informed consent
• D. Abandonment

Answer: (A)

Touching a patient without consent is battery. In healthcare law, battery is the intentional, harmful or offensive contact with another person without their permission or without a valid legal justification. It focuses on the act of contact itself and the absence of consent, regardless of intent to help. Negligence, on the other hand, is about failing to exercise reasonable care and isn’t about intentional contact. Informed consent describes the process of obtaining a patient’s voluntary agreement to a procedure after being informed of risks and alternatives, not the act of contact itself. Abandonment refers to discontinuing warranted care, not the act of touching without permission. So, the act of touching without consent fits battery.

Touching a patient without consent is battery. In healthcare law, battery is the intentional, harmful or offensive contact with another person without their permission or without a valid legal justification. It focuses on the act of contact itself and the absence of consent, regardless of intent to help. Negligence, on the other hand, is about failing to exercise reasonable care and isn’t about intentional contact. Informed consent describes the process of obtaining a patient’s voluntary agreement to a procedure after being informed of risks and alternatives, not the act of contact itself. Abandonment refers to discontinuing warranted care, not the act of touching without permission. So, the act of touching without consent fits battery.