Dignity-Contributing Factors in Clinical Care Setting: A Multisite Qualitative Descriptive Study

Abstract

The illnesses are treated in a hospital care environment could increase the risk of loss of patient’s dignity. Hence, simultaneously preventing the risk of loss of dignity and maintaining patient dignity are equally important. Nevertheless, maintaining patient dignity depends on the knowledge of the factors influencing it. The present study was aimed at exploring the factors associated with dignified care in clinical care settings. The study design was a multisite qualitative descriptive study carried out in six general hospitals located in East Java, Indonesia. The participants involved were 40 clinical nurses recruited purposively from 36 medical and surgical wards. Data were analyzed using inductive content analysis. Three main overarching categories were found, which contribute towards maintaining dignified care: nurse related factors including commitment, competency and self-control; patient related factors including personal traits and perception of care; and organization related factors involving staffing level and tangible resources. The study adds the understanding of factors contributing towards maintaining patient dignity gathered from healthcare provider viewpoints. These factors could act either as dignitypromoting factors or dignity-threatening factors. Our findings expanded on the operationalization of the

three areas as potential elements which could act as means to enhance dignity within hospital care.