Dignity must be at the heart of nursing care

Published: 27 April 2008

Eight out of ten nurses say they finish shifts feeling upset or distressed because they have not been able to ensure their patients have been treated with dignity, a UK wide survey by the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) has found.

Theresa Fyffe, RCN Scotland Director, said dignity should not be an after thought or an optional extra. “Every patient – whether they are in a hospital, a GP’s surgery, in the community or in a care home - deserves to be treated with dignity and respect.

“Something as simple as making sure curtains fit and close properly around a bed or that gowns cover patients, can go a long way towards giving patients the privacy they need to make them feel more comfortable.

“This survey shows that nurses desperately want to give patients the high quality personalised and dignified care they deserve but many simply do not have the time and resources to do so.

“We are therefore asking for nurses to be given the time, resources and organisational support to make sure every patient is treated with dignity.”

Scotland is already taking steps to enhance patient care through the Leadership in Compassionate Care Project. This important project aims to support newly qualified nurses during their first year of practice to support their development as confident and compassionate staff nurses. The project also involves establishing Centres for Excellence to identify and showcase good nursing practice.

“This project will help and enable all of Scotland to share knowledge and enhance best practice in patient care across the country,” Theresa said.

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More information

For further information or interviews, contact Heather Wallace on 0131 662 6172 or 07962 801 005 (out of hours).

Notes to editors

Nearly three-quarters of nurses surveyed (77 per cent) agreed their organisation makes the dignity of patients and clients a priority, and nearly nine out of ten nurses (89 per cent) said they would always challenge a colleague whom they felt had compromised a patient’s dignity.
It found that 86 per cent of nurses would like to make dignity a higher priority as part of their daily routine but nearly two-thirds (65 per cent) said they sometimes or never have enough time to make sure patients receive they kind of care they would like.
81 per cent of nurses say they sometimes or always leave their workplace feeling distressed or upset because they have not been able to give patients the kind of dignified care that they should.

Measures to ensure patient’s dignity include:

the abolition of mixed sex wards in hospitals and for new hospitals to build single sex wards
where there are single sex bays in mixed hospital wards that separate washing and toilet facilities are provided
toilets and wash facilities in all healthcare settings should be accessible with enough space for wheelchairs and hoists to be used
for curtains that fit and close properly to be installed around beds
for there to be enough space between beds to ensure patients have a degree of privacy
investment in hoists and specialist equipment to make lifting patients easier

The Leadership in Compassionate Care Project is a collaboration between Napier University and NHS Lothian. The project aims to embed compassionate care as an integral aspect of all nurse education and practice in NHS Lothian and beyond.