Nurses have a professional duty to respect patient’s dignity and according to the new NMC Code of Conduct 31 March 2015 all nurses are asked to prioritize people, practice effectively, preserve confidentiality, promote safety and lastly promote professionalism and trust. For which this research about patient’s dignity in acute hospital settings was held.

Dignity is identified as complex multi-faceted feelings of control and self presentation, in accordance to privacy and behavior that may come from others and all nurses are asked to put the interests of people needing care first making them their very 1^st concern and to make sure their dignity is preserved and needs recognized, assessed and responded to. To treat them while upholding their rights by eliminating any discriminatory attitudes or behaviors to bounce towards those receiving care.

According to a case study by Lesley Baillie 2009 Patient dignity is identified as feeling valued and comfortable psychologically with one’s physical presentation and behavior, having a sense of control over the situation, and the behavior of other people in the environment. The study was based on a 22-bedded surgical ward in an acute hospital in England and The data Collected focused on patients and staff but excluded relatives point of view, to be included in future research.

Previous researches identified dignity as an internal quality supported by findings, as many participants expressed that the meaning of dignity was about feelings. Some feelings identified in this study’s findings supported previous research, in particular: self esteem and self respect (Matiti, 2002).

Observation field-notes about the patient’s condition, the environment and each event occurring were written, following the observation, each patient, and the main staff members involved, were interviewed separately about the patient’s dignity on the ward. These interviews were interview notes fully written up on the same day, so events could be recalled as fully as possible. Although patients could have been hesitant to voice concerns while still in the ward, they appeared to speak freely. All participants were assured of confidentiality. The interviews with senior nurses were taped. All taped interviews were transcribed in a period of 24 h. Hospital and ward documents were scrutinized for references to dignity and either copied (with permissions) or provided electronically by senior nurses.

To determine the main data collection methods, two post discharge interviews and two participant observation episodes were conducted and critically reviewed with the researcher’s doctoral supervisors. Together they considered that the data collection methods elicited rich data and so these data were analyzed with data subsequently collected. The themes addressed the meaning of patient dignity, patient factors affecting dignity, the impact of the hospital environment on dignity and how staff behavior affects dignity.

As a Conclusion Patients are vulnerable to loss of dignity in hospital. Staff behavior and the hospital environment can influence whether patient’s dignity is lost or preserved. feeling comfortable, valued and in control are considered the core of patient dignity in an acute hospital setting or at least its how things are defined; other components are physical presentation and behavior. Patients are vulnerable to loss of dignity due to an underlying disorder or disease; their impaired health can be further threatened by lack of privacy, and curt or authoritarian staff behavior. Patient’s ability to rationalize their situation is important. Promoting dignity when under threat can be achieved by other Patient’s support, a dignity promoting culture, and staff interactions making patients feel comfortable, in control and valued.

 

References

• emc.healthyorthodoxmedicine.com

• Campbell, A.V., 2005. Core values in healthcare or why the patient isn’t an afterthought. Quality in Ageing 6 (1), 6–9.

• Department of Health, 2006b. About the Dignity in Care campaign. Available from http://www.dh.gov.uk. Accessed August 22, 2006.

• Enes, S.P.D., 2003. An exploration of dignity in palliative care. Palliative Medicine 17 (3), 263–269.

Verified by: Dr.Diab (January 7, 2017)

Citation: Dr.Diab. (January 7, 2017). Nurses and Patient’s Dignity. Medcoi Journal of Medicine, 5(2). urn:medcoi:article15416.