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Turkish Health Professionals' Concerns About Patient Rights in a University Hospital, Turkey

Ozgur Erdem, MD1, Hediye Seval Akgun, Professor2, and Çoskun Bakar, MD, specialist1. (1) Public Health Department, Baskent University School of Medicine, 12.street 7/8, bahcelievler, Ankara, 06490, Turkey, (2) Chief Quality Officer, Baskent University Hospitals Network, School of Medicine, 12. sokak no:7/8 Bahcelievler Cankaya, Ankara, 06490, Turkey, 9003122120434, sevala@baskent-ank.edu.tr

Social, economic, cultural, ethical and political developments have given rise to movements toward patients' rights in the world. In Turkey, patients' rights issues are currently being discussed at both the administrative and public levels, particularly by patients and professionals. Thus, this study was conducted on 500 nurses and auxiliary staff by face to face interview. 70.9 percent of the participants are nurses .The average ages are 27.4±4.6 and 49 percent graduated from university. 75.3 percent of the surveyed staff ‘s answer is ‘no' to the question ‘which of the study (declaration) related to the patient's right in the world do you know?' 84.7% of the health professionals introduce themselves before giving any medical care, 86.1% inform patients of the medical facts of their condition, 76.0% inform the patients about the potential risks and benefits of each procedure and any alternatives 95.1% strictly follow privacy and confidentiality rules and 90.5% inform the patients about the hospital rules. 39.6 percent of the surveyed people have stated that they have received training related to the patient's right before and after their graduation, and 90.6 percent of them have received training before their graduation. It's seen that 13 percent of the analyzed people have read the patient's right regulation before. 14.9 percent of the surveyed people have received complaint related to the patient's right as a health staff. We are recommending that hospitals in Turkey should adopt routine policies similar to those in the United States for informing customers about their rights as patients.

Learning Objectives:

Keywords: Human Rights, Health Care Quality

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Any relevant financial relationships? No

Ethics, Justice, and Human Rights Issues in Health Administration

The 134th Annual Meeting & Exposition (November 4-8, 2006) of APHA