Investigating the level of respect for human dignity and its related factors in providing care for the elderly with COVID-19 in shahid Beheshti Hospital, Kashan, 2021

BACKGROUND: Patients’ dignity includes the feelings of being valuable, maintaining their respect, and respecting their physical and spiritual privacy. Coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19) is one of the life-threatening diseases that affect the dignity of the elderly. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the level of respect for human dignity and its related factors in providing care for the elderly with COVID-19 in Shahid Beheshti Hospital in Kashan, 2021. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This cross-sectional study investigated 250 nurses caring for the elderly with COVID-19 and 300 elderly with COVID-19 in Shahid Beheshti Hospital of Kashan in 2021. A sampling of the elderly with COVID-19 was performed continuously based on the inclusion criteria and sampling of nurses by census method. The research tools included the questionnaire on background variables of nurses and the elderly, the questionnaire on respect for human dignity from the perspective of nurse and patient, and the job stress questionnaire. Then, the results were analyzed using Pearson's correlation coefficient tests, t-tests, and multiple regression in SPSS 21 software. RESULTS: Based on the results, the mean and standard deviation of patient dignity was 132.13 ± 71.52 and 129.14 ± 06.44 from the perspective of the nurses and the elderly, respectively. The results revealed that the level of respect for human dignity from the nurses’ perspective was significantly related to gender and job stress (P < 0.05). Moreover, a significant relationship was found between the human dignity score from the elderly's perspective and the elderly's marital status and education (P < 0.05). According to the results of regression, the variables of nurses’ gender and job stress explained about 8.7% of the variance of the patient's dignity observed by the nurses (Adjusted R-Square = 0.087). Finally, the variables of marriage and education of the elderly explained about 4% of the variance of their dignity observed by the nurses (Adjusted R-Square = 0.040). CONCLUSION: The results showed that with the increase of job stress in female nurses, their human dignity toward the patient decreases. Elderly people who are married and have a high school diploma have a better understanding of respect for human dignity. Since respect for human dignity is important from the point of view of nurses and the elderly, it is suggested to teach nurses how to respect patient dignity.