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KMID : 0377619900550070461
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Korean Jungang Medical Journal
1990 Volume.55 No. 7 p.461 ~ p.470
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A Study on the Concept of the Patients´ and the Nurses´ Rights
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Abstract
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People often claim their own rights but may not be deeply concerned about what those rights are or how they may claim them. Furthermore they may not be aware of other´s rights and the interrelationships among various rights. Recently, in Korea, many people have begun to claim their rights. But the nature of those rights and methods of securing them have been scarcely examined or reflected upon. This paper examined the concept of human rights, the characteristics of patients´ and nurses´ rights, and obligations through a theoretical conceptual analysis. From the 17th century, philosophers began to be concerned about the concept of human rights. Until then they had emphsized only duties to their king or God. But awareness of personal dignity gave rise to the concept of human rights. Thereafter they sutdied the basis for rights-and the attributes of rights.
This paper first examined the grounds for human rights? Accodring to natural law theorists, the ground is the natural law which is prior to positive laws and can be regarded as the rational participation in the eternal law of God. Utilitarians assert the principle of utility which menas "the greatest happiness of the greatest number". And those who lay stress on the value of human life emphasize "the fact itself that one is human". But as yet there is no consensus about the ground and nature of human rights.
Philosophers have also studied the relation between rights and duties or obligations. According to the doctrine of the "logical correlation" of obligations and rights, a right implies that someone else has an obligation to act in certain ways. Mill usefully approached this problem by employing the distinction between duties of perfect obligation and duties of imperfect obligation. And Feinberg writes, "A positive right is a right to another person´s positive actions; a negative right is a right to another person´s omissions or forbearances.
This study then analysed the rights of patients and nurses. Patients´ rights have following characteristics. First, all patients equally have the right to quality health care. These may be negative rights for their health care professional, but positive rights for society and the nation. Second, patients have the right to be treated as a person. Nurses have the right to practice autonomously based on their own knowledge and skills without interference. This menas that other professions should not inhibit them from acquiring this right. And given the importnace of nurses´ role in society but it´s oppressive history, nurses might claim this as a positive right for society and the nation. Finally the paper examined nurses´ professional resposibilities. Through the enhancement of their scientific knowledge and skills, nurses can fulfill the obligation for patient´s rights to independent and quality nursing care. Nurses can enhance their realization of their professional roels, through further examination and analysis of their patient´s right and their own rights and obligations.
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