| Summary: | Abstract
Aim: To discover what student nurses think about dignity within the hospital setting.
Literature review: Dignity is a fundamental of care (DOH 2001), yet 4-10% of patients don’t get treated with it each year (SCPCT 2008). It is a difficult concept to define (Bayer et al 2005; Baillie 2007; Jacelon et al 2004). Barriers to dignity are debated both as barrier and their significance to dignity, it includes both the environment and the staff caring for them (Walsh and Kowanko 2002; RCN 2008b; Baillie 2007; Gallagher and Seedhouse 2002; Jacelon 2002; Bryant and Adams 2009; Sears 2009; Matiti and Trorey 2008).
Method: A quantitative method was used distributing 220 questionnaires’ to nursing students in their 2nd, 3rd and 4th year of study. The questions were closed and used the likert scale. A response rate of 97% was received. Data was analysed using SPSS.
Results: Students thought dignity was important in all areas, yet the majority of students didn’t think patients got treated with dignity all the time. Students defined dignity in terms of human dignity and not in terms of social dignity (Jacobson 2006). Student believed they learnt about dignity predominantly in lectures how no statistical difference was found. Students identified many barriers to dignity, mostly agreeing with the literature in the identification of the barriers.
Conclusion: Students are able to learn about dignity in a variety of ways, they can identify the barriers to dignity and think it’s important in hospitals however student nurses don’t think all patients get treated with dignity within hospitals. This is consistent with research conducted on nurses (RCN 2008). Recommendations for future research including finding out why students don’t think all patients get treated with dignity. Recommendations for practice included removing the barriers to dignity in order to give patients the best care.
|
|---|