Cent Eur J Nurs Midw 2010, 1(4):106-112

Respecting of dignified approach to the patient in home care agencies

Mária Tabaková

Department of Nursing, Jessenius Medical Faculty in Martin, Comenius University in Bratislava

Aim: Author of this paper deals with the problematics of dignified approach of the nurses to the patient in home care agencies. Dignified approach to the patient is an integrated factor of the moral attitudes of health professionals and significantly resonates in the international and national documents which enshrine ethical principles. The aim of the work was to evaluate the effect of some factors affecting the dignified approach to the patient and to record statistically significant differences in its respect in terms of demographic data.

Methods: For the measurement of respecting of dignified approach by nurses to the patient was used custom designed questionnaire, which included 26 items divided into 5 subscales focusing on the information of patient, on patient's autonomy, on the possibility to show freedom of will, on respecting the confidentiality, on the principle of justice and on the intimacy of the patients. The research was attended by 182 nurses working at home care agencies.

Results: Based on the collected analysis data we can conclude that there is not a significantly reduced scale of dignified approach by nurses to the patient. The highest rate of its respect was expressed in the subscale focused on patient information, lowest rate in the subscale, in which we detect the observance and protection of confidentiality of information. Between the nurses' demographic data and dignified approach to the patient, we recorded a low correlation.

Conclusion: By identifying these factors we can realize changes in home care agencies, which can positively contribute to the quality of nursing care provided.

Keywords: nurse, dignified aproach, nursing home care

Published: September 30, 2010  Show citation