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Raising awareness of patient dignity
Authors: Lesley Baillie | Ann Gallagher
Date: October 2012
Journal: Nursing Standard
Issue: Volume 27, Number 5
Keywords: Dignity, education, nurses’ behaviour, patient care, reflection
Maintaining patient dignity is an important aspect of nursing care. However, the behaviour of nurses and other healthcare professionals may affect delivery of dignified care. An educational initiative, developed for a UK dignity campaign, incorporated visual metaphors to prompt nurses’ reflection and raise their awareness of behaviour that can compromise patient dignity. During a qualitative evaluation of the campaign’s progress at seven healthcare organisations, interviews were carried out with 51 staff with local leadership roles in the campaign. This article reports on their perceptions of the effect of the visual metaphors on nursing staff. Three sub-themes emerged: challenging staff defensiveness about their practice, recognising practice that compromises patient dignity, and questioning everyday practice in the care environment. The use of visual metaphors stimulated reflection among staff regarding their contribution to enhancing or diminishing patient dignity. There is a need for further research in this area to examine subsequent changes in practice and their sustainability in relation to promoting and maintaining dignity in care.
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The RCN Publishing Company is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Royal College of Nursing, the world's largest organisation for nurses. RCN Publishing produces one weekly, eight monthly and two quarterly nursing publications. Nursing Standard, the flagship journal, is the UK's biggest selling weekly for nursing. It is produced by RCN Publishing Company along with a suite of specialist nursing journals - Cancer Nursing Practice, Mental Health Practice, Learning Disability Practice, Nursing Children and Young People, Nursing Management, Emergency Nurse, Nursing Older People, Nurse Researcher and Primary Health Care. RCN Publishing Company also produce the RCN Bulletin, a major source of up-to-the-minute information for RCN members in all specialities, grades and working environments. With the latest nurse vacancies from trusts nationwide, it has become the most cost-effective nurse recruitment magazine available.