Survey of physicians', nurse's and patient's awareness and attitude about patient bill of rights in Qom University of Medical Sciences-affiliated hospitals in 2011

Members of a society are committed to protecting and respecting human dignity. This is particularly important in times of illness. Knowledge and practice of patient’s bill of rights is the basis of health system efficiency. The present study aims to evaluate physicians’, nurses’ and patients’ awareness and attitude about patient’ bill of rights in Qom University of Medical Sciences-affiliated hospitals in 2011. This descriptive-analytic study was conducted during one year in 5 affiliated hospitals of Qom University of Medical Sciences. 283 health care providers and hospitalized patients were randomly selected and were asked to respond to a designed questionnaire consisting questions about demographics, awareness (30 questions), and attitude (2 questions). Data were analyzed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS- 16). A total of 283 complete questionnaires were collected. Mean scores of awareness and attitude were respectively 25.22±8.09 and 63.21±12.16 in nurses and significantly were greater than physicians’ and patients’ scores (P<0.001). The lowest score of attitude among physicians and nurses was related to the question about necessity of explaining daily therapeutic process to the patient. The gap between current and ideal level of awareness and attitude about patient’s bill of rights among physicians and nurses may result in patients’ dissatisfaction. Identifying the problems and finding ways to improve commitment to patient’s bill right is recommended.