Respecting for human dignity in elders caring in perspective of nurses and elderly patients

Progressive increase in the elderly population causes more attention to the health of this age group, because of their numerous health problems. Regardless of whether the provided interventions are physical or psychosocial, one of the basic principles of caring for elder people is to uphold their dignity. Regarding to the importance of elderly patients, and nurses viewpoints about human dignity in providing dignified care, this study was conducted to assessing respect for human dignity in caring for older adults in perspective of nurses and elderly patients. This is a cross-sectional study on 150 nurses and 150 elderly patients who were selected by census and convenient sampling, respectively. Data collection tool included a researchermade questionnaire consisted of demographic information, assessment the importance of and providing dignified care to hospitalized elderly patients. The obtained data were analyzed using software SPSS 16 after registration. According to the findings, although, the mean score of nurses viewpoint about the importance of providing dignified care for elderly patients (9.91±1.76) was higher than the elders’ viewpoint (8.62±0.82), but relating the respect for elderly patient's dignity, the mean score of patients viewpoint(77.33±11.13) was significantly, higher than nurses (72.43±11.45) point of view (p<0.001). Generally, most of the subjects in the two groups reported appropriate respecting for human dignity in elderly patients. The findings confirmed the appropriate respecting for human dignity in the care of elderly patients, in perspective of nurses and patients. Thus, promoting respect for human dignity in the care of elderly patients is recommended as an ethical and cultural rule.