Evaluation of Nurses' Knowledge and Observance about Patients' Rights in Selected Military Hospitals

Patients’ rights are their expectations from healthcare organization and hospitals. Protection of patient rights by nurses is possible only when they have the necessary knowledge in this field. Therefore, this study was conducted with the aim of determining the nurses' knowledge and observance about patients' rights in selected military hospitals.

This cross-sectional study was conducted in Iran during 2022. The research samples included 317 nurses who were selected by convenience sampling method. The data collection tool was a standard questionnaire consisting of three parts, which was completed by nurses in self-report manner; the first part was related to the demographic data, and the second and third parts were related to the patients' legal status (for assessing nurses' knowledge and observance about patients' rights).

49.2% of nurses' knowledge about patient rights was in good status and 47.9% was in excellent status. In other words, about half of the nurses were aware of patients' rights. Meanwhile, in terms of observance of patient rights by nurses, 71% of them were in excellent status. The level of knowledge and observance of patients' rights had a significant relationship with the variables of age, job history and education level (P<0.05).

Considering that about half of the nurses in the selected military hospitals did not have adequate knowledge of the patient's rights, the necessity of training and informing the nurses is becoming more apparent. It is suggested that the education of patients' rights to nurses and patients should be placed at the top of the plans of managers and decision makers of the organization.