Patients’ Rights Charter Adoption among Healthcare Professionals in Mbagathi Hospital, Nairobi City County, Kenya
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Date
2024-02
Authors
Thuo, Wango’mbe Muthoni Irene
Kithuka, Peter
Rucha, Kenneth
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
IAJHMN
Abstract
Since 1946, health has been recognized as a
basic human right in the World Health
Organization’s Constitution and it is the
organization’s purpose for all. While
progress has been made in achieving the
right to health, there are still substantial
gaps. There are no documented studies that
illustrate the factors that influence
healthcare professionals' adoption of the
2013 Patients' Rights Charter in Kenya,
specifically in the study area. This study's
main goal was to investigate the factors that
influence healthcare professionals at
Mbagathi Hospital, Nairobi City County,
Kenya, to adopt the Patients' Rights Charter
of 2013. This study therefore examined the
determinants of the adoption of the Patients'
Rights Charter among healthcare
professionals at Mbagathi Hospital.
Quantitative and qualitative methodologies
in a descriptive cross-sectional research
design were used for data collection,
whereby a semi-structured questionnaire
was administered to the selected healthcare
professionals at Mbagathi Hospital. The
stratified sampling method from Yamane's
(1967) was used to select the desired
sample in each of the six cadres of
healthcare professionals. The study
targeted 186 healthcare professionals who
were chosen purposively. The results
indicated that the average of the female
respondents was 96 (51.6%), respondents
aged 20–30 had 101 (54.3%), and medical
doctors had 37 (19.9%) adopted patients’
rights charter in public health facilities. The
respondents’ level of education was,
however, statistically significant with a pvalue of 0.002. Majority 174 (93.5%) of the
respondents were aware that the Kenyan
constitution contains a Patients’ Rights
Charter. While 135 (72.6%) said there were
challenges that hindered the full adoption of
the patients’ rights, which included the
large number of patients in the facility, 112
(61%), 34 (18%) as a lack of equipment and
10 (5%) as incompetent staff in the facility.
Most of the health care system factors were
statistically significant such as workload (P
= 0.014), workload effect (P=0.052),
confidential handling of patient/client
communications and records (P = 0.003),
information provided to patients and clients
(P = 0.007), adequate workspace (P =
0.007), a copy of patients' rights and
responsibilities offered to patients (P =
0.000), parties involved in the disputes (P
=0.003), hospital investigated for medical
legal issues (P = 0.050), issues resolution (P
= 0.018), and documentation on the process
of implementing the Kenyan Charter for
Patients' Rights (P = 0.00), thus correlated
with the adoption of the Patient Rights
Charter. The study thus concludes that
respondents appeared to be familiar with
the patients' rights, but they faced several
obstacles that prevented them from
completely embracing the Patient's Rights
Charter at the public hospital. Hence,
recommend that, in order to safeguard
patients' legal rights and deliver higherquality care to them and their families,
legislators and health care administrators
have a thorough awareness of healthcare
hurdles. The government should make sure
that all healthcare professionals have the
tools and information required.
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Citation
Thuo, W. M. I., Kithuka, P., & Rucha, K. (2024). Patients’ rights charter adoption among healthcare professionals in Mbagathi Hospital, Nairobi City County, Kenya. International Academic Journal of Health, Medicine and Nursing, 2(1), 400-430.