Attitudes of nurses in respecting patient's rights in different wards of Hamedan University of Medical Sciences

Abstract

Introduction: Human rights are the most important ethical rights that should be equally considered for every human being. The individual's rights are defined on the basis of the needs. Managers of medical health centers are responsible for patient's rights protection. Respecting the individual's rights is another responsibility of nurses in addition to their basic and principle responsibilities to provide the patients with proper health care service. Knowing and applying the patients' rights by the nurses, increases patient's trust and satisfaction. The purpose of this research was to determine the nurses' attitudes towards respecting patient's rights in acceptance or avoidance of a treatment, confidentiality of personal information and their rights in patient humanitarian researches.

Methods: This research was a descriptive study. The research areas were the medical science university hospitals. Sampling was achieved randomly. The data gathering tool was a two-section questionnaire. In the first section, demographic characteristics were asked from research units and in the second section, 21 close questions on patient's rights were asked. The statistical method used included descriptive statistics, Pearson correlations coefficients and chi-square test.

Results: Most of research units were clinical nurses, 21-25 year-old with BS degree who had 5-9 years of work experience. The nurses' attitudes towards patient's right of being respected was 58%, patient's right of accepting or avoiding a treatment was 57.7%, confidentiality of patient's personal information was 64.3% and respecting patient's right in humanitarian researches was 60.7%. Statistical reviews between the work experiences of research units and their attitudes on respecting patient's rights showed a significant association.

Conclusion: Given the findings, increasing patient's trust and satisfaction can come true through promotion of nursing care quality and respecting patient's rights.