Evaluating the Awareness of Patients’ Rights Based on the Charter of Patients' Rights in Medical Staff of Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran

Background: Patient rights are critical axes in defining standards for the application of clinical services governance. The present study aimed to evaluate the awareness of patients’ rights based on the Charter of Patients' Rights in the medical staff. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was performed on 47 medical staff in teaching hospitals of Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran, by convenience sampling method and by the average mean of a quantitative trait in a community. Data were collected using a two-part questionnaire including demographic characteristics and patients’ rights awareness questionnaire. Data were analyzed using SPSS software (version 16.0). Results: The mean age of subjects were 8.3 + 36.3 years. Staff awareness of patient rights in 66% of research units was excellent. The highest level of respect for patient rights was related to respect for patient privacy and the principle of confidentiality, which does evaluate by 78.7% of higher research units. The lowest level of observance of patient rights was related to providing adequate information to the patient, which was excellent in 59.6% of the research units. There was no significant relationship between demographic characteristics (age, gender, education level lot and jobs), and awareness of patients' rights (P>0.05). Conclusion: Although in this study, awareness of patients' rights in most areas by medical staff was desirable, but the area of awareness of providing desirable and sufficient information to patients needs to be improved; so it does suggest more stringent regulatory policies to implement the provisions of the Charter of Patients' rights and develop and implement training programs to strengthen staff awareness in this area.

Evaluating the Awareness of Patients’ Rights Based on the Charter of Patients' Rights in Medical Staff of Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran Keywords:

awareness , Iran , patients , Patients' Rights , Medical staff