PATIENT RIGHTS: A STUDY ON PATIENT’S KNOWLEDGE AND NURSE’S PRACTICE IN A MULTISPECIALTY TEACHING HOSPITAL

Protection of patient rights by nurses ensures the quality of patient care and enhances the level of patient satisfaction. Lack of practice of certain patient rights by the nurses is based on the knowledge of these aspects. Adequate knowledge on patient's rights among nurses will be fruitful in imparting awareness among the patients. The study aims to assess patient's knowledge and nurse's practice regarding patient rights. A Descriptive research approach was adopted wherein focus was on six patient rights. The data was collected from 75 patients admitted in the private wards of the selected hospital using a structured questionnaire. Frequency, percentage, mean and Standard deviation were calculated for the data. The study reveals that the awareness of rights was high in most clients. The scores for knowledge of various aspects of patient rights are: right to confidentiality 84 %, right to privacy 82.7%, right to respect 74.7% and right to information 50.7%. Lower knowledge was observed for right to consent 45.3% and right for grievance redressal 37.3%. Patients reported the practice of nurses to be high for right to confidentiality 94.7%, right to respect 84%, right to privacy 85.3%, right to be informed 61.3% and right to consent 60%. Relatively lower percentage of practice was observed for right to grievance redressal 24%.This study has an implication in nursing education and practice. All nursing professionals need to be provided with training to gain knowledge and practice patient rights. Nurses must also take responsibility to educate patients in patient rights.