Chapter V

SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION

This chapter is composed of the points presented in the study

concerning the level of awareness of patients on their rights. It also

presents the summary of the research study, the conclusion extracted

from the research findings and the recommendation based on the results

of this study.

Summary

The main objective of this study was to determine the relationship

between the patient’s profile and the level of awareness of patients in

Ilocos training and Regional Medical Center (ITRMC) on their rights.

This research was conducted during the month of June to July

2006 to patients who were admitted in Ilocos training and Regional

Medical Center (ITRMC). The total number of respondents that were

gathered was 68 patients.

The descriptive correlation research design was used in the study

because it described and interpreted the level of awareness of confined

patients in Ilocos training and Regional Medical Center (ITRMC) on their

rights. Correlation was employed because it determined the relationship

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between the profile and the level of awareness of patients in Ilocos

training and Regional Medical Center (ITRMC) on their rights.

In order to gather data on the level of awareness of patients in

Ilocos training and Regional Medical Center (ITRMC) on their rights, a

questionnaire composed of the different rights of patients was used.

The questionnaire was given personally by the researchers. The

questionnaire was administered in the hospital during the month of June

to July 2006. To determine the profile respondents, frequency count and

percentages were used and Pearson product moment correlation was

utilized to determine if there is a significant relationship between the

profile and the level of awareness of patients in Ilocos training and

Regional Medical Center (ITRMC) on their rights.

Specifically, the study sought to answer the following problems:

1. What is the profile of the confined patients in Ilocos Training and

Regional Medical Center (ITRMC) in terms of the following variables:

a.) age, b.) sex c.) highest educational attainment and d.) occupation?

2. What is the level of awareness of patients in Ilocos Training and

Regional Medical Center (ITRMC) on their rights?

3. Is there a significant relationship between the profile and the level of

awareness of patients in Ilocos training and Regional Medical Center

(ITRMC) on their rights?

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Findings of the Study

The following were the salient findings of the study:

1. Majority of the respondents were females ages 26-31 years old, and

most of them have finished a college degree, and who had neither

employed in a professional nor a technical work.

2. In the level of awareness of patients on their rights, all of the rights

mentioned in the study had an overall weighted mean of 2.0, which

was in between the statistical rating scale of 1.7 to 2.3. The results

had vividly implied that patients in Ilocos Training and Regional

Medical Center (ITRMC) were basically aware of their rights. However,

among those twenty-one (21) rights that were comprised in the study,

it was the right to considerate and respectful care that had the

highest weighted mean of 2.3, and on the other hand, it was the right

to be informed of the medical consequences of one’s refusal or plan of

care that had the lowest weighted mean of 1.8.

3. The relationship of the profile and the level of awareness of patients of

patients in Ilocos Training and Regional Medical Center (ITRMC), as

presented in table 3, had a negligible correlation because the

computed correlation coefficient value of lower than the critical value

of +/- .23848 at .05 level of significance.

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Conclusions

Based on the findings of the study, therefore the researchers

conclude that:

1. Patients in Ilocos Training and Regional Medical Center (ITRMC) are

mostly young female adults who graduated from a bachelor’s degree

and are employed either in the professional and technical fields.

Those who are neither in the professional nor technical field

considered their type of occupation as others.

2. Patients in Ilocos Training and Regional Medical Center (ITRMC) are

basically aware and concerned of their rights. Patients’ awareness on

these rights ensures the equal medical treatment consistent with the

dignity and respect owed to them as human beings. Raising

awareness is beneficial since it will accustom people to broad health.

3. The level of awareness of patients in Ilocos Training and Regional

Medical Center (ITRMC) on their rights is not related and not affected

by age, sex, highest educational attainment and occupation.

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Recommendations

The following recommendations were formulated based on the

established conclusions.

1. The legislative department, same be local or national, should persist

to enact laws that will give highest priority to the patients’ rights in

order to safeguard the patients’ dignity and integrity, and to minimize

the cases of medical negligence or malpractice.

2. The hospital administrators and staff members should continue to

promote and enhance the respect for the patient’s rights in

accordance to the standard policy in the protection human dignity

and integrity.

3. The health care team which includes student nurses should maintain

their active participation and involvement in the promotion and

enhancement of patients’ rights through health education that will

make patients understand fully their rights in order for them to act

accordingly to their respective rights and responsibilities.

4. The educational institutions from the different colleges not only

medical schools should continue to include in their respective

curricula and discussions about the rights and responsibilities of

patients so that students will further guide them to the particular

rights they are entitled to.

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5. The patients on the other hand should continue to be aware of these

rights and able to realize that awareness of their rights connotes

responsibility not only for themselves but for the improvement of the

health care system as well.