Respect for privacy by nurses from the perspective of the elderly hospitalized in internal and surgical wards

Background: Respect for privacy is the right of all patients, including the elderly, and lack of respect for patients could be associated with increased anxiety, stress, lack of confidence in hospital personnel, refusal of physical examination, and impaired recovery. This study aimed to evaluate respect for privacy by nurses from the perspective of the elderly hospitalized in internal and surgical wards.

Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted on the elderly hospitalized in internal and surgical wards of hospitals affiliated to Zahedan University of Medical Sciences, Zahedan, Iran, in 2015. In total, 132 patients were selected through convenience sampling. Data was collected using the researcher-made questionnaire of respect for privacy, reliability and validity of which were confirmed. Data analysis was performed in SPSS, version 16, using descriptive statistics, Mann-Whitney U tests, and Spearman’s correlation coefficient.

Results: In this study, mean score of respect for privacy of patients by nurses was favorable in 70.4% of the cases. In terms of physical and psycho-social dimensions of privacy, 81.1% and 73.4% of the cases were at an acceptable level, respectively. Regarding information dimension of privacy, 84.8% of the cases were at a moderate level. A higher level of respect for privacy was reported by elderly female patients (104.24±13.7), compared to male elderlies (109.13±60.62; P=0.013). Moreover, a negative significant correlation was observed between age of the elderly and respect for privacy by nurses (P<0.001, r=-0.37).

Conclusion: According to the results of this study, respect for the elderly was reported to be at a favorable level for physical and psycho-social dimensions. Nevertheless, information dimension of privacy was not acceptable. Therefore, it is recommended that necessary educational programs be performed for nurses.