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

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

J Med Ethics Hist Med. 2023 Dec 2:16:13. doi: 10.18502/jmehm.v16i13.14308. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Soolmaz Moosavi¹, Maryam Sadaat Mousavi², Ayat Ahmadi³, Amirhossein Mardani⁴, Alireza Parsapoor⁵, Ehsan Shamsi Gooshki⁶

Affiliations

¹ Assistant Professor, Department of Medical Surgical, School of Nursing & Midwifery, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
² Researcher , Medical Ethics Supervisor, Shariati Hospital, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
³ Assistant Professor, Knowledge Utilization Research Center, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
⁴ PhD in Information Science and Knowledge Study, Medical Ethics and History of Medicine Research Center, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
⁵ 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.
⁶ 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.

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.

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