Implementation of Patient's Bills of Rights by Physicians and Nurses from Their Colleague's Points of View in Educational Hospitals of Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences

Background and Implementing medical ethics rules and patients’ bills of right are necessary in achieving high quality health care services. The present study was performed to assess the implementation of patients’ bills of right from the physicians and nurses’ viewpoints, working in Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences Educational Hospitals. This descriptive-cross sectional study was done using stratified random sampling in 487 physicians and nurses working in four educational hospitals in Sari, 2012. The data was collected using a two-section questionnaire including demographic characteristics and likert-type scale regarding implementation of patients’ bills of right. Analytical tests including Mann–Whitney U and Kruskal-Wallis were performed to analyze the data. The mean score for patients’ bills of right was 2.65 ± 0.83 from their own points of view. The least score was for respecting the patients, their privacy and indiscrimination (2.09 ± 1.03) and the highest score was seen in the right to choose and making decision freely (2.82 ± 0.94).There was a significant difference between the physicians and nurses’ mean scores for implementation of patients’ bills of right in which physicians believed in poor implementation (P=0.006). The implementation of patients’ bills of right was followed the least in internal ward (2.30 ± 0.72) and the most in psychiatry ward (2.85 ± 0.99) (P=0.003). The patients’ bills of right is not fully implemented by physicians and nurses working in educational hospitals. Therefore, necessary actions are needed to remove barriers against patients’ bills of right and to facilitate its implementation in hospitals.