Investigating the Relationship between Compliance with Professional Ethics and Patients' Bill of Rights with Professional and Demographic Characteristics of Nurses

Abstract

Background: Ethics are considered an essential part of nurses' job duties, and nursing has traditionally been considered an ethical profession due to its caring obligations. The aim of the present study was to determine the relationship between the level of compliance with professional ethics and the patient's rights charter with the professional and demographic characteristics of nurses. Methods: This was a descriptive-analytical cross-sectional study that was conducted in selected hospitals of Isfahan University of Medical Sciences in 2024. A random sampling of 220 nurses was conducted. Data were collected using a questionnaire on demographic and professional characteristics, compliance with professional ethics and the patient's rights charter by self-report method by the participants. Findings: The results of one-way analysis of variance in this study showed that there was no significant relationship between professional ethics and the patient's rights charter with the professional and demographic characteristics of nurses. However, a significant relationship was shown between work experience (P = 0.009) and age (P = 0.004) with access to an efficient complaint handling system in nurses (P < 0.05). Conclusion: The results of the present study showed a significant relationship between work experience and age with familiarity with the paths to access an efficient complaint handling system in nurses, which could be due to the greater familiarity of nurses with older age and work experience with the paths to access an efficient complaint handling system, and further studies are needed to investigate this relationship. © 2026, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences(IUMS). All rights reserved.