Learning to promote patient dignity: An inter-professional approach

Abstract

The promotion of patient dignity is an important aspect of healthcare provision. However, there is evidence to suggest that patient dignity is not being promoted as expected and a number of attributing factors have been suggested in the literature. This article proposes that healthcare educators should incorporate the subject of dignity in its own right within the curriculum. Attempts in teaching the concept of dignity have tended to adopt a uniprofessional approach: this paper proposes that inter-professional education (IPE) is the most suitable approach in teaching the issues relating to dignity in healthcare.

Learning and unlearning dignity in care: Experiential and experimental educational approaches

“…Responses suggest different perspectives on what dignity is (for example, a skill, an outlook, a particular need for privacy, and so on) and whether dignity inheres in the care-giver, and/or in the care-recipient, and how these perspectives might inter-relate. This observation supports that of Matiti (2015: 2) that a "conscious and critical exploration" of the challenging concept of human dignity is a valuable M A N U S C R I P T A C C E P T E D ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT 17 educational goal. Hence, our findings strengthen previous calls for dignity to be a core component of pre-registration nurse education (Cotrel-Gibbons andMatiti 2011, Matiti 2015) and suggests that this could best be achieved by further embedding experiential and experimental educational approaches in nursing curricula.…”

“…Surveying recent scholarship, Matiti (2015) notes that student nurses lack knowledge about dignity and have little awareness of government documents promoting dignity in care. She argues that despite the considerable definitional complexity surrounding the use of the term, dignity can be influenced through education and should be taught in its own right (Matiti 2015):…”

“…She argues that despite the considerable definitional complexity surrounding the use of the term, dignity can be influenced through education and should be taught in its own right (Matiti 2015):…”

“…However, despite repeated calls for dignity education to be integrated into nurse education (Matiti 2002, Cotrel-Gibbons and Matiti 2011, Matiti 2015 and development of educational techniques to enhance students' conceptual confidence and practical competence around dignity, only rarely has dignity education been designed with student nurses.…”

Respectful care of human dignity: how is it perceived by patients and nurses?

“…In Turkey, no research has specifically focused on dignified care. Nevertheless, such studies are warranted since the meaning of dignity differs among people, cultures and countries9 because dignity involves values that make up culture 11. This research aimed to explore the perspectives and experiences of patients and nurses with regard to dignified care in Turkey.…”