Health profession students' awareness and perspectives on patients' rights

Abstract

Introduction: The concept of human rights in patient care refers to the theoretical and practical application of general human rights. It is universally acknowledged that all human beings possess individual and social rights, certain groups within society are deemed to be particularly vulnerable and therefore require additional protections. Among these groups, patients stand out as one of the most vulnerable, facing physical, psychological, social, and economic challenges. One of the most important issues in healthcare is awareness of and adherence to patients' rights which include but are not limited to patients' physical, psychological, spiritual, and social needs. Patients’ right should be treated as if they are standards and regulations that medical teams should know about and observe. The study aimed to investigate health professions students' awareness and perspectives of patients' rights so as to enhance the education and training of future healthcare professionals. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 294 undergraduate students from three academic programs. Data were collected using a structured questionnaire comprising of three sections. The data were entered in Microsoft excel and then exported to Stata Version 15 for statistical analysis. Results: Two hundred and ninety-four students participated in the study, a majority of which was male 168/294, 57%). The mean age was 24 years (SD 4, range 20-40). The results indicated significant differences in the perspective on patients' right to participate in care decision and choosing treatment plans across the three groups of students offering the different academic programs (mean rank =1.98, 1.81, and 1.92). The findings of the study showed that 88% of the health profession students had great knowledge towards patient's right to confidentiality compared to others students. The key findings indicate that most of the students were aware of the patients' bill of rights (PBR), the main means through which most students got to know about the PBR was class, religion was significantly associated with awareness, there was high awareness about the specific patient rights of PBR in Uganda's context, and there was more divergence in the students' perspective on the view that a health provider may administer medical treatment without the informed consent of the patient. Conclusions: The findings of this survey highlight the need for medical schools to review and evaluate their curricula to ensure that students receive comprehensive education and training on patient's rights.