Awareness Level of Patient's Rights among Hospitalized Patients

Abstract

Although the term "patient rights" is relatively new in the literature and practice of the medical profession, it has emerged to be an essential part of current health care practices. Patients should be somewhat more aware of what to expect from healthcare professionals when they enter into the hospital. To assess the patients' awareness of their rights among those receiving treatment at the Mufti Mehmood Memorial Teaching Hospital in Dera Ismail Khan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. The study employed a descriptive cross-sectional research design, and sixty patients hospitalized at Mufti Mehmood Memorial Teaching Hospital, D.I.Khan, were selected using a non-probability purposive sampling technique. A self-developed semi-structured questionnaire and face-to-face interviewing methods were utilized to measure the inpatients' awareness level of their rights. The findings of this study indicate that patients had a good level of awareness level of their rights. Of the patients, one-fourth (22%) had strong awareness level, the majority (43%) had average awareness level , and one-third (35%) had poor awareness level of their rights. The majority of patients had awareness levels that were poor to average. As a result, more public awareness campaigns about patients' rights ought to be held on a regular basis to inform the community and patients about their rights each time they seek services at a hospital.