Investigating the viewpoints of patients regarding the compliance of codes of professional ethics by nurses at Jahrom hospitals of Medical Sciences 2013

Considering providing services, nurses establish their activities based on shared ethical values which are reflected in the professional codes of ethics. Since patients are the cornerstone of health organizations, the present study has been conducted aiming at determining the level of compliance of codes of professional ethics to provide the context to describe current situation and better planning to enhance compliance of these codes. In this cross - sectional study, 210 patients from Jahrom University of Medical Sciences participated which were selected using randomized quota sampling. The data collection tool was a valid and reliable researcher-made questionnaire that investigates compliance of codes of professional ethics by nurses in two fields of clinical services and professional commitment based on Likert scale (1 = never to 4 = always). The mean of compliance of codes of professional ethics by nurses was reported 78.67± 18.92.The highest compliance mean was associated to the code "respecting patient's privacy while caring" with mean 3.69±2.99 (total of 0 to 4) and the lowest mean compliance was associated to the code "report of the complaint of the patients to the ward head" with mean 2.76 ± 1.35(total of 0 to 4). With respect to good compliance of codes of professional ethic by nurses, it seems that preserving and promoting present situation and identifying the causes of the occurrence of some shortcomings in the compliance of codes of professional ethics by nurses must be considered by the relevant authorities.