Assessment of knowledge of family members about patient’s rights in medical emergency situations in the intensive care unit

Abstract

ASSESSMENT OF KNOWLEDGE OF FAMILY MEMBERS ABOUT PATIENT’S RIGHTS IN MEDICAL EMERGENCY SITUATIONS IN THE INTENSIVE CARE UNIT

Introduction. Medical emergencies require immediate attention. In case imminent life-threatening conditions exist, certain procedures are often abandoned. In order for doctors to take action (e.g. medical procedure or treatment,) there is no need to obtain informed consent from the patients in such cases.

Aim. The study was an attempt to assess the knowledge of families about the patient’s rights in medical emergency situations in the Intensive Care Unit.

Materials and Methods 107 persons – close friends and relatives of persons in medical emergency situations treated in the Intensive Care Unit of the Solec Hospital, LLC. An original questionnaire was used in the study.

Results 29% of the respondents pointed to the Internet as the most common place to look for information on patient’s rights. For 11%, it was the friends who were the primary source of that information. Over a half of the subjects (57%) reported that they have never received any advice about patient’s rights from the medical staff. The majority of respondents believe that patients in medical emergency situations have a right to refuse to undergo some certain medical procedures or interventions.

Conclusions 1. Most of the participants in the study claimed that they have sufficient knowledge of their rights as patients. Although not all respondents were interested in these issues, most of them were willing to broaden their knowledge in this area. 2. Medical personnel did not constitute a major source of knowledge of patient rights for the respondents. 3. Most study participants did not have an opportunity to familiarize themselves with the Patient Charter. 4. According to close friends and relatives, patients in medical emergency situations and persons in non-life-threatening conditions have different rights. 5. The level of knowledge of close friends and relatives of patients in medical emergency situations about their access to medical record of this particular patient was not high. Many respondents were not knowledgeable about the range of information they can receive from medical personnel. 6. The level of knowledge of close friends and relatives of patients in medical emergency situations was lower than their declared subjective sense of familiarity with patient rights.