Respecting patients’ rights in hospitals: patients’ and health-care workers’ perspectives

Soolmaz  Moosavi; Maryam Sadaat  Mousavi; Ayat Ahmadi; Amirhossein Mardani; Alireza Parsapoor; Ehsan Shamsi Gooshki

doi:10.18502/jmehm.v16i13.14308

Soolmaz Moosavi Assistant Professor, Department of Medical Surgical, School of Nursing & Midwifery, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
Maryam Sadaat Mousavi Researcher, Medical Ethics Supervisor, Shariati Hospital, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
Ayat Ahmadi Assistant Professor, Knowledge Utilization Research Center, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
Amirhossein Mardani PhD in Information Science and Knowledge Study, Medical Ethics and History of Medicine Research Center, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
Alireza Parsapoor Assistant Professor, Medical Ethics and History of Medicine Research Center, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran; Department of Medical Ethics, School of Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
Ehsan Shamsi Gooshki Associated Professor, Medical Ethics and History of Medicine Research Center, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran; Department of Medical Ethics, School of Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.18502/jmehm.v16i13.14308

Keywords: Clinical ethics, Health-care providers, Health-care workers, Patients' rights.

Abstract

Considering the importance of respecting and observing patients’ rights, this study aimed to assess the level of observance of hospitalized patients’ rights from both patients’ and health-care workers' (HCWs) perspectives. This cross-sectional descriptive-analytic study reports the responses of 486 patients and 887 HCWs in a public referral university hospital. The study illustrates that patients and HCWs think patients’ rights are respected at a medium level; however, HCWs reported lower levels of respect for patients’ rights than patients, and senior HCWs reported even lower levels than their younger colleagues. Older patients and those hospitalized in internal medicine wards reported lower respect for autonomy and responsiveness, and patients’ companions reported lower levels of respect for patients’ rights than the patients themselves.