Nurses’ Opinion on Protection of Nurses’ Rights

Abstract

Introduction: Nurses have some rights as health care workers. These are the right to practices, the right to equality between workers, a safe workplace environment for the health and well-being of workers, occupational health and safety rights regarding the protection of workers from accidents and occupational diseases. Another right is the right to compensation for occupational injuries and diseases. Finally, the right to freedom of expression has been addressed to protect workers from possible corruption and unethical practices, especially in the private sector. The researchers who are registered nurses would like to determine the different views and opinions of other nurses related to nurses’ rights. Methodology: Descriptive method of research was used in this study and appropriate statistical tools were employed. The study considered the nurses of Immaculate Conception Medical Center in Cabanatuan City as respondents of the study. Profile variables for correlational analysis were limited to age, gender, marital status, and years of working experience in the hospital. The results of the study were only true to the research locale. Results and Conclusion: From the significant findings of the study, the following conclusions were drawn: (1) Opinions of the nurses confirmed that there are rights that have been granted by the hospital administration like the nurses’ ability to work independently, taking into account the opinions of nurses while regulating working schedules, job security, and legal regulations in effect to protect the dignity and image of the nursing. However, there are rights that need to be underscored by the management: taking nurses’ views into account while determining health policies, to receive supplementary payments based on performance, getting financial support for scientific meetings or activities, get free treatment from the hospital, and get financial support in case of accidents or illnesses. (2) Male and female nurses differ in their opinions about nurses’ rights. (3) Analysis of variance showed that nurses differ in their opinions about nurses’ rights across age and number of working experience. No differences were observed across marital status.