key: cord-0780417-x5zebbdc
authors: Kamali, Mohsen; Mousavi, Seyed Kazem
title: Observance of patients’ rights by physicians and nurses from the COVID-19 patients’ perspective
date: 2020-12-30
journal: J Med Ethics Hist Med
DOI: 10.18502/jmehm.v13i33.5315
sha: a56d63a2b6f2f75016199a4b32950328ea06a6ad
doc_id: 780417
cord_uid: x5zebbdc

Observance of patients' rights is a significant indicator in evaluating the quality of healthcare services. The COVID-19 pandemic has become a global crisis and affected the interactions between healthcare providers and patients. This study examined the COVID-19 patients’ viewpoint about the observance of their rights by physicians and nurses. This study is a descriptive cross-sectional work of research conducted on the COVID-19 patients in Zanjan Province, Iran, in September 2020. The subjects were selected through convenience sampling, and data was collected using a two-section questionnaire consisting of a demographic characteristics survey and a Likert-type scale for evaluating patients' rights observance. The validity and reliability of the questionnaire were found to be acceptable, and the collected data was analyzed in SPSS v.26 using descriptive statistics, independent t-test, and ANOVA test. The mean score of observance of patients' rights was 69.60±7.36, representing a moderate level. The highest and lowest scores for the observance of patients' rights were related to the dimensions of courteous communication and responsibility, respectively. A significant relationship was found between the observance of patients’ rights and their marital status, health insurance, and education level (P<0.05). This study showed that the observance of the COVID-19 patients' rights has not been affected by the social agitation caused by this disease.

Patients are one of the most vulnerable groups suffering not only from physical health issues but also from mental and emotional stress. Hence, the foundation of medical and nursing care is based on respect for patients' self-esteem and identity (1, 2) . An efficient healthcare system involves active interactions and satisfactory relationships between medical and healthcare team and patients (3) . Courteous communication, respect for patients' privacy, responsibility, and attention to the cultural values are the primary components of cooperative relationships in healthcare systems (4) . In every society, the principle of respect for patients' rights is vital from a medical ethics perspective (5) . The patient's rights charter is a framework to defend patients' rights in emergency situations and to satisfy their needs without discrimination in a respectful environment (6, 7) , as well as to promote communication between patients and healthcare providers (4, 8, 9) . The first serious step in establishing the concept of patient rights was the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) where in its article 2, intrinsic dignity and equal rights are an indispensable part of human rights based on freedom, justice, and peace around the world (10) . Thus, patients' rights, including patients' physical, psychological, spiritual, and social needs, are expected to be observed by healthcare providers (11) , and oncoming ethical controversies in medical care has challenged fulfilling patients' rights (11 ,12) . Advances in medical technology have led to many new ethical challenges requiring legal instructions to protect care recipients' human dignity (13) . As in other countries, the patients' rights charter in Iran has been developed while carefully considering religious and cultural issues incorporated in all the articles of the charter (14, 15) . According to Parsapoor et al., along with political laws, educating the general public and professionals is required to ensure that patients' rights are properly respected in the healthcare system (15) .

When people are exposed to psychological stress, their cognitive, behavioral, and support resources have a fundamental role in controlling their adaptation and emotional reactions, such as fear, anxiety, and panic.

Under the psychological stress of an illness, personal and social resources are known as influential factors that can positively or negatively affect treatment results (16, 17) .

Emphasis on patients' rights in healthcare is especially important for patients with a special disease. These patients are more vulnerable in terms of physical, mental, and social problems (18) . According to Al-Rabiaah et al., the perceived stress of a special disease can affect interactions between patients and healthcare providers (e.g. physicians and nurses) (19) . Kord et al. reported that Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) patients, as individuals with a special disease, expect healthcare providers to observe their rights equally and without discrimination, and treat them as other patients (20) .

Near the end of 2019, the outbreak of a new viral disease, called COVID-19, was reported in the city of Wuhan, China (21) .

Due to its rapid transmission, the COVID-19 pandemic became a global health crisis in all countries within a few months (22 responses would have no effect on their treatment plans and that they were orally interviewed just to prevent virus spread.

Then, as a further precaution, the researchers took photos of the completed questionnaires and then discarded all the paper questionnaires.

The participants' informed consent, having been hospitalized for more than one day, and being in stable physical and mental conditions as 

Permission to conduct the present study was 

Ghareh Boughlou A. Patients and nurse's awareness of patient's rights: a comparative study. Health

Awareness and practice of patients' rights among hospitalized patients at Wad-Medani Teaching Hospital

Awareness and observance of patient rights from the perspective of Iranian patients: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Implementation of patient's rights charter: a report from ministry of health and medical education, Iran

The underlying factors affecting the ethical performance of health service providers when faced with disasters: a qualitative study

Nurses' level of awareness and observance of patients' rights

Awareness of patients' rights among inpatients of a tertiary care teaching hospital-a cross-sectional study

Relationship between' patient's rights charter' and patients' satisfaction in gynecological hospitals

Evaluation of patients' rights observance according to patients' rights charter in educational hospitals affiliated to Mashhad University of Medical Sciences: medical staffs' views

Barriers in the performance of patient`s rights in Iran and appropriate offered solutions review article

Comparison of the importance and observance of the patient's bill of rights from the perspectives of patients and personnel of hospitals in Kerman

Patient's bill of rights: is it a challenge for quality health care in Saudi Arabia?

The relationship between moral distress in nurses and ethical climate in selected hospitals of the Iranian social security organization

Health service providers, viewpoint about awareness and observation of patients' rights in Iran: a systematic review

Patient's rights charter in Iran

The role of perceived mental stress in the health of suspected cases of COVID-19

Supporting the health care workforce during the COVID-19 global

Psychological impacts of Covid-19 outbreak on mental health status of society individuals: a narrative review

Middle East Respiratory Syndrome-Corona Virus (MERS-CoV) associated stress among medical students at a university teaching hospital in Saudi Arabia

Nursing care of AIDS patients based on patient's rights in domestic and international arena: a review article

Understanding the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and coronavirus disease (COVID-19) based on available evidence -a narrative review

Effectiveness of electronic health care and drug monitoring program to prevent COVID-19 and adherence to therapeutic regimen in patients with ischemic heart disease-a pilot study

A review on coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and what is known about it. Depiction of Health

Observance of patients' rights in emergency department of educational hospitals in south-east Iran

Quality of compliance of patient's rights in operating rooms of Hamadan's educational hospitals in 2012

Awareness from patient right patent and its observance from patients' viewpoint

Awareness of the importance of and adherence to patients' rights among physicians and nurses in Oman: an analytical cross-sectional study across different levels of healthcare

Hospitalized patients' awareness of their rights-a cross sectional survey in a public and private Tertiary Care Hospitals of Punjab, Pakistan

The necessity of observing patients' right: surveying patients', physicians' and nurses' attitudes around it

The effect of urgency on patient satisfaction and future emergency department choice. Health Care Manage Rev

Observance rate of the rights of patients by providers care and its necessity from view of patients in Shahid Sadooghi Hospital in Yazd

Perspective of patients and their relatives about the patients' rights in the hospitals of Khoy University of Medical Sciences

Professional ethics in nursing practice from the perspective of the patients hospitalized in teaching hospitals of Bushehr during 2015

Observation of patient's right charter in Mazandaran teaching hospitals: patients view

The researchers would like to thank the patients who participated in this study and the hospital personnel for their cooperation despite the restrictions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The authors declare no conflict of interests