Abstract

Aim. The aim of this study was the assessment of respecting the patient’s privacy in cardiac care units.

Background. Increasing number of people with cardiovascular disease calls for increasing the number of Cardiac Care Units (CCU). The invasive and noninvasive procedures in these units can threaten patient’s privacy.

Method. This descriptive analytic study was conducted on 300 patients admitted to cardiac care units of Tehran›s selected hospitals. The patients were selected by convenient sampling method. Data were collected using a questionnaire consisted of two parts, demographics and privacy questionnaire. The data were analyzed by SPSS software.

Findings. Based on the findings, 50.7% of the sample were Female. Mean age was 61.5=+11.95 year. Mean scores for respecting privacy dimensions ranged from 68.86% for physical privacy to 80.27% for social privacy. There was a statistically significant association of respecting patients privacy with age, sex, marital status, education and history of hospitalization.

Conclusion. Patient s privacy was respected in CCUs, but patient’s privacy is not still respected perfectly. CCU managers should pay more attention to this subject.