Knowledge levels of the health care employees working at the primary health institutions about patient rights

Abstract

The aim of the research was to examine the knowledge levels of the health care personnel working at the first step health institutions about patient rights. It was a descriptive research which was carried out in Melikgazi and Kocasinan Health Group Directorate of Kayseri Province between 1st. of October 2006 and 30th. of May 2007. 406 of 610 health care personnel participated in the study (% 66.5 participation rate). A questionnaire form of 39 questions was utilized. Kruskal-wallis test was used for statistical evaluation. % 56.2 of the health care personnel was 29 years old and younger. % 38.4 of the personnel had undergraduate diploma, % 37.9 was midwife, % 37.2 worked for 10 or 14 years. It was found out that % 42.4 of the personnel was unaware of the patient rights. It was seen in the statistical evaluation that there was a significant statistical difference between the scores of knowledge on patient rights of the personnel and age, educational status, professional group and working period. It was concluded that nearly half of the personnel working at the first step health institutions did not know nothing about patient rights and such variables as age, school from which they graduated, professional status and working period affected knowledge levels of patient rights.