Basic rights of the Public Healthcare System user in the province of Las Palmas: a nursing perspective
Section: LEARNING TO TEACH
Authors
1Juan Manuel Alonso Tejera, 1Elisa Isabel Armas Melián, 2Francisco José Hernández Martínez
Position
1Estudiantes de Enfermería de la Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (ULPGC).2Profesor Unidad Docente de Enfermería de Enfermería de Lanzarote de la ULPGC.
Contact address
Francisco José Hernández Martínez. Unidad Docente de Enfermería de la ULPGC. Plaza de la Constitución, 8. 35508 Teguise (Lanzarote).
Contact email: fjhernandez@denf.ulpgc.es
Abstract
The nursing practitioner is obliged by state laws and by the professional deontological code to ensure that a series of basic human rights are preserved in each individual: life, privacy and freedom.
The patient must also be aware of his or her rights and what these mean within the healthcare setting. If this is not the case, it is the healthcare professional’s duty and responsibility to safeguard these rights and communicate their meaning to patients. Hence, the nursing professional will have to make sure that these rights are exercised at all times in his or her everyday practice and know beforehand what information patients have.
Based on this theoretical framework we decided to gather data on the information and the basic knowledge that the population of the province of Las Palmas (Lanzarote, Fuerteventura and Gran Canaria) has with regard to patient fundamental rights.
Overall, the sample population has basic knowledge on their rights. Once interviewed, 77,41% answered questions on patient rights correctly and 18,77% incorrectly.
Regarding the participants’ knowledge on their rights as users of healthcare, we found that they learned this information not through education but through more practical personal and family experiences. It is worth mentioning that women have less information about these rights than men.
Keywords:
nursing professional; right to life; right to freedom; right to privacyprofessional deontology
Versión en Español
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