Preserving Patient Dignity (Formerly Patient Modesty) Volume 122

 

FROM ME:

Here is a definition I read describing "patient dignity": being treated with care and compassion; • polite, courteous staff; having their privacy and dignity actively respected; and • having their views listened to and taken into consideration. Do you all agree? 

FROM BIKER:

Dr. Bernstein, on the surface that definition is a good one but where it will fall apart is likely in their underlying definition of what "having their privacy and dignity respected" means.

Healthcare staff almost universally say they respect patient privacy and dignity. Then they turn around and completely ignore the patient's privacy by bringing in chaperones, assistants that don't assist, and other audience members to stand there and stare at the patient. They needlessly expose the patient in order to get access to the abdomen or the groin area. Most urology, dermatology, and other specialty practices make no effort to hire even a single male staff member for male patient intimate exams and procedures. Many small hospitals only hire female sonographers, and they in turn expose their male patients more than is necessary for procedures such as testicular ultrasounds.

So, a good definition if in fact privacy and dignity uses a patient-focused definition rather than a staff convenience based definition.

AND THE DISCUSSION CONTINUES..