Łukasz Hajduk
Monika Binkowska-Bury
Anna Jacek
Informing about Patient’s Rights by medical personnel
Łukasz Hajduk
Monika Binkowska-Bury
Anna Jacek
Z Oddziału Gruźlicy i Chorób Płuc Specjalistycznego Zespołu Gruźlicy i Chorób Płuc w Rzeszowie
Institute of Health Sciences, Medical College of Rzeszow University, Rzeszow, Poland
Katedra Zdrowia Publicznego, Instytut Pielęgniarstwa i Nauk o Zdrowiu, Wydział Medyczny Uniwersytetu Rzeszowskiego, Rzeszów, Polska
Abstract
Introduction: It is a duty of medical personnel to inform patients about their rights. It is a duty that results both from current law regulations, as well as from deontological regulations.
Work goal: recognizing opinions on informing about patient’s rights by medical personnel, as well as by patients being hospitalized in stationary (outpatient) health service. Having in mind objectification of conducted research, medical personnel and patients from specific hospital ward were being researched simultaneously. In the conducted research, it has been also put a question into consideration about the knowledge of patient’s rights among patients themselves.
Material and methods: There were 400 participants in the research: 60 doctors, 120 nurses and midwifes and 220 patients from hospitals from the area of Subcarpathian province (województwo podkarpacie). Research was conducted by the Authorship Questionnaire, that was created separately for doctors, nurses/ midwifes and for patients.
Results: It was proved, that doctors who were working directly with patients, knew almost all patients rights. In the case of nurses and midwifes, majority of them confessed they knew them partly. Due to conducted research, it was showed that doctors inform patients averagely about 16 rights, nurses about 13 rights, however, in patient’s opinion, they were being informed about 9 out of 19 entitled rights. The research did not show any dependence among the age of patients and average amount of rights known by them. However, it was proved, that the educational level of patients had an influence on the amount of rights known by patient.
Conclusions: It was stated, that the knowledge of medical personnel concerning patient’s rights is partial and differentiated, moreover; informing patients about rights that are entitled to them is being done partly and insufficiently. The above conclusion was also confirmed by patients themselves. The most popular source of knowledge for patients about their rights is Patients Rights Declaration.
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