An ethnographic study of human dignity in nursing practice

Area of Science:

• Nursing Ethics
• Patient Care Quality

Background:

• Human dignity is a cornerstone of humane nursing care.
• No prior studies have compared nurse and patient perceptions of dignified care in practice.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore how professional nurses deliver dignified care.
• To identify themes related to dignified care delivery in clinical settings.

Main Methods:

• An ethnographic qualitative study using inductive and deductive methods.
• Participant observation (158 hours) and semi-structured interviews (20 nurses) in four Barcelona hospitals.
• Data collected September 2014–May 2016 and analyzed using ATLAS.ti.

Main Results:

• Two themes emerged: 'Delivering dignified care' and 'Factors influencing delivery'.
• Nurses recognized dignity as a core value but showed a perception-practice gap due to unawareness.
• Key elements of dignified care: respect, confidentiality, privacy, communication. Institutional policies (e.g., shift rotation, staffing, paperwork) were major obstacles.

Conclusions:

• There's a critical need for nurses' actions to align with their attitudes towards dignified care.
• The study highlights discrepancies between perceived and actual care, suggesting a need for increased self-awareness.
• Professional forums are recommended to help nurses reflect on and improve their clinical practice for dignified care.