Nowadays, with the development of science and technology, the attention is focused mainly on the physical aspect of a person and human dignity is less emphasized. The medical professionals should treat the patients with respect, dignity and understanding. This work points at the issues of maintaining patient autonomy and intimacy as the basic components of the preservation of human dignity. For the purposes of the thesis, the aim was to find to what extent the nurses find it possible to preserve patient autonomy, intimacy and the promotion of human dignity in the hospital environment. The thesis was handled by the qualitative research method with the use of interviews with the nurses and the patients of Department of Surgery and Department of Aftercare. The research file consisted of 10 general nurses, included 5 nurses from the Department of Surgery and 5 nurses from the Department of Aftercare. The research also addressed 10 patients from the Department of Surgery and 10 patients from the Department of Aftercare. Data collection was based on interview with prepared questions. The interviews which allowed the research to collect valuable information were recorded in two ways; either with the help of a voice recorder, or by a written record. Then the data processing itself occurred which consisted of a literal transcript of the information. The important data were emphasized and highlighted using the method called "a pencil and paper." By means of marking of individual words we used the method of "encoding" where the information has been grouped and which subsequently resulted in concepts as autonomy, intimacy and human dignity. The accomplished research brought different views of the nurses on the possibility of preserving the autonomy of the patients. The Department of Surgery offers more autonomy of the patients than those from the Department of Aftercare where patient autonomy is not sustained. The majority of patients (the Department of Surgery, the Department of Aftercare) is at least aware of the possibility to decide on their own, even under the circumstances where all the initiative is, as a result, conveyed by the doctors. Another concept that expressed our interest was the dignified care. Nurses show respect to patients through a humane approach, including information, interest, a quiet environment and a smile. This behaviour was also confirmed by the patients who mentioned only positive experience with the conservation and the promoting of their dignity. Many patients reported that this care is provided at the place where they are hospitalized. Unfortunately, according to the nurses, in some cases the lack of possibility to support patient dignity is caused by insufficient number of the staff, insufficient time and inappropriate facilities. The nurses are trying to maintain a professional approach which is based on decent behaviour focused on respect for human dignity. As the last concept, we present intimacy and privacy. The nurses evaluate the preservation of intimacy as possible and at the same time as an important aspect of the dignified care. Most often intimacy is maintained by means of roller blinds, doors and shutters. However, it is the number of people in the room that both the nurses and the patients see as a chief problem. The patients continue to highlight the efforts and the emphasis that the nurses put to maintain intimacy and privacy. According to the accomplished researched, it was found that the current nursing care may fulfil the rights for human dignity at an average level. The results of the current and potential further research could be available to the management of the hospital care to provide the employers with the information as a means for the identification and elimination of the identified barriers. This would increase the level of quality provided by nursing care and awareness of the fact that a person with all his/her needs remains the focus of our attention.
Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:nusl.cz/oai:invenio.nusl.cz:188718 |
Date | January 2015 |
Creators | PETROVICOVÁ, Eva |
Source Sets | Czech ETDs |
Language | Czech |
Detected Language | English |
Type | info:eu-repo/semantics/masterThesis |
Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/restrictedAccess |
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