The Importance of Human Dignity in Healthcare and Nursing

Running head: DIGNITY
DIGNITY
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DIGNITY
Human dignity can be described as the sense of self-respect and self-worth in individuals.
It mainly seen to incorporate a number of aspects that include their right to feel the basic needs
that include shelter, food as well as personal safety. In the healthcare department, the nursing
professionals consider human dignity to be more focused on the aspects of privacy, autonomy as
well as respect (Papastavrou et al. 2016).
Researchers are of the opinion that being sensitive to the service user’s demographic as
well as special circumstances is immensely critical and significant for the preservation of the
human dignity (Matiti 2015). In many cases, it is seen that older patients suffer from the sense of
loss of dignity when nursing professionals holds stereotypes and negative assumptions about the
capability of the older clients in understanding, remembering and acting upon information.
Therefore, not only for patients like this but also for all kinds of patients, nursing professionals
have the duty to communicate the procedures steps by step even when it might require extra
time.
Dignity is also associated with autonomy. Researchers are of the opinion that every
individuals wants to have certain measures of control about what happens with their bodies and
the ways their destined unfold (Sabatino et al. 2014). Therefore, Human Rights acts instruct
nursing professionals not to restrain their patients as that affects their dignity. Moreover, recent
nursing principles also guide the professionals to provide enough freedom to the patients with
cognitive impairment in making their own decisions and to have their wishes honored.
When dignity is present, every service users feel that they are in control, confident,
valued as well as comfortable. They should also able to make decisions for themselves.
Researchers have seen that when dignity is absent, service users feel devalued and are also seen