HUMAN RIGTHS

Human rights are those items which are a person’s due as a member of the society. They
are not earned and exist independently of law or public opinion. Human rights claim an
authority higher than the state, an authority founded on essential and universal need.
However, they occur in the context of a culture and are influenced by the beliefs or value
systems of that culture.

In 1949 the United Nations Assembly branch UNESCO claimed “ all persons have a
right to a standard of living adequate to provide for health and well being and the right
to food, clothing, housing, and medical care”. This suggests that persons are entitled to
certain services, programs, and goods in order to maintain or achieve health as a basic
human right.

In the following provision of the constitution, our human rights and our right to
health are guaranteed:

Article 2, Section 11. The State values the dignity of every human person and guarantees
full respect for human rights.

Article 2, Section 15. The State shall protect and promote the right to health of the
people and instill health consciousness among them.

Article 12, Section 11. The State shall adopt an integrated and comprehensive approach
to health development which shall endeavor to make essential goods, health and other
social services available to all the people at affordable cost. There shall be priority for the
needs of the underprivileged sick, disabled, women and children. The State shall
endeavor to provide free medical care to paupers.

Article 12, Section 12. The State shall establish and maintain an effective food and drug
regulatory system and undertake appropriate health manpower development and research,
responsive to the country’s health needs and problems.

Article 12, Section 13. The State shall establish a special agency for disabled persons for
their rehabilitation, self-development and self-reliance, and their integration into the
mainstream of society.

PATIENT’S BILL OF RIGHTS

In the past, we have been using as reference of patient’s rights the Patient’s Bill of Rights
adopted by the American Physicians Association (APA) or the of the American Hospital
Association (AHA). But recently, law makers have taken noticed of the increasing cases
of malpractice acts filed against professional health care providers based on lack of skills,
foresight and diligence, misdiagnosis, wrong medication, wrong blood transfusion,
adverse effects of anesthesia and medicine prescribed and administered and refusal to
provide health services and emergency medical treatment due to lack of money by
patients, or resources by health care agencies. This has led to the creation of the Senate
Bill No. 588, entitled “Magna Carta of Patients’ Rights”. This bill, if passed into a law,
aims to “recognize and promote patients rights, among which are : the right to health care
and humane treatment; to have access to competent and best treatment regardless of age,
sex, ethic origin, religion, and social class; the right to privacy and to be treated with care,
consideration, respect and dignity without discrimination; to be in formed of any
proposed medical procedure including possible risks and outcomes; the right not to be
abandoned and to provided continuing care; to choose his/her physician; to refuse in
medical research; and the right to participate with health care professionals in decision –
making affecting their health”.

The Patient’s Bill of Rights within the scope of the proposed Magna Carta of Patients’
Right are:

1. Right to Medical Care and Humane Treatment:

• Every person has a right to health and medical care corresponding to his state
of health, without any discrimination and within the limits of the resources
available for health and medical care at the relevant time.
• The patient has the right to health and medical care of good quality. In the
course of such care, his human dignity, convictions and integrity shall be
respected. His individual needs and culture shall be likewise respected.
• If any person cannot immediately be given treatment that is medically
necessary he shall, depending on his state of health, either be directed to wait
for care, or be referred of sent for treatment, elsewhere, where the appropriate
care can be provided. If the patient has to wait for care, he shall be informed
of the reason for the delay and the estimated waiting time.
• Patients in emergency who are in danger of dying and/or may have suffered
serious physical injuries shall be extended immediate medical care and
treatment without any deposit, pledge, or mortgage or any form of advance
payment for the confinement of treatment.

2. Right to Informed Consent

• The patient has the right to clear explanation, in lay person’s terms, all
proposed procedures, whether diagnostic or therapeutic, including the identity
of the person who will perform the said procedure, possibilities of any risk or
mortality or serious side effects, problems related to recuperation, and
probability of risks involved, and he will not be subjected to any procedure
without his informed consent. Provided, that in cases of emergency, when the
patient is unconscious and/or incapable of giving consent and there is no one
who can give consent in his behalf, then the physician can perform any
diagnostic or treatment procedure as good practice of medicine dictates
without such consent; Provided further, that when the law makes it
compulsory to everyone to submit procedure, a consent is not necessary.
 • Informed consent shall be obtained from a patient concerned if he is of legal
age and of sound mind, from the next kin in the case the patient is incapable
of giving consent, or from the parents or legal guardian in the case of minor or
mentally incapacitated individual. Provided, that if his parents or legal
guardian refused to give consent to a medical or surgical procedure necessary
to save his life, the court upon petition of the physician or any person
interested in the welfare of the child, may issue an order giving such consent.

3. The Right of Privacy

• The patient has the right to be left alone when this will not prejudice the
provision of necessary medical care.
• The patient has the right to be free from unwarranted publicity, except in the
following cases;
a. when his mental or physical condition is in controversy and the
appropriate court in its discretion orders him to submit to a
physical or mental examination by a physician;
b. when the public health and safety so demand; and
c. when the patient waived his right.

4. Right to Information

• The patient has the right to clear, complete, and accurate evaluation of the
nature and extent of his disease, the contemplated medical treatment and
surgical procedure including the medicines to be administered and their
generic counterparts and its probable outcome, economic costs, impact on
lifestyle and work including side effects and after effects of the treatment,
possible complications and other pertinent facts regarding his illness.
However, if the disclosure of the information to the patient will cause mental
suffering and further impair in his health, or cause the patient not to submit
medically necessary treatment, such disclosure may be withheld or deferred to
some future opportune time upon due consultation with the patients next of
kin.
• The patient has the right to know the name and credentials of the physician
responsible for his care or for coordinating such care. He may likewise request
for similar relevant information about any other health care provider directly
involved in his care.
• The patient has the right to examine and be given an itemized bill for services
rendered in the facility or by his physician and by other health care providers,
regardless of the manner and source of payment. He is entitled to a through
explanation of such bill should he find this incomprehensible.

5. Right of Privileged Communication

• The patient has the right to demand that all information, communication and
records pertaining to his care be treated as confidential. A physician is not
 authorized to divulge any information to a third party who has no concern
with the care and welfare of the patient, except;

a. when such disclosure will benefit public health and safety;

b. when it is in the interest of justice; and
c. when the patients waives the confidential nature of such
information.

6. Right to Choose Physician

• The patient is free to choose the physician to serve him except when;
a. he is confined in a charity ward; and
b. he has entered into a contract with a health maintenance
organization or any other health insurance organization which
stipulates that the patient can only be served by a physician
affiliated with the organization.

7. Right to Self – Determination:

• The patient has the right to refuse diagnostic and treatment procedures.
Provided, That

a. he is of age and of sound mind;

b. he is informed of the medical consequences of his refusal;
c. he releases those involved in his care from any obligation
relative to the consequences of his decision; and
d. his refusal will not jeopardize public health and safety.
• An adult with a sound mind may execute an advance directive for physicians
not to put him on prolonged life support if, in the future, his condition is such
that there is little or no hope of reasonable recovery. The qualifications listed
as a a, b, and c of the preceding paragraph shall be considered as satisfied if a
patient whose condition makes him unable to express his will has executed an
advance directive.

8. The Right to Religious Belief

• The patient has the right to refuse medical treatment which may be contrary to
his religious beliefs, subject to the limitations described in the preceding
subsection. Provided, that such a right shall not be imposed by parents upon
their children who have not reached the age of legal discretion.

9. Right to Medical Records

• The patient is entitled to a summary of his medical history condition which

shall be accomplished by the attending physician. He has the right to view the
content of his medical records with the attending physician explaining
 contents thereof. At his expenses and upon discharge of patient, he may obtain
from the health care institution a reproduction of the same record, whether or
not he has fully settled his financial obligations with the physician or
institution concerned.
• The health care institution shall ensure and safeguard the integrity and
authenticity of then medical records.
• The health care institution shall issue medical certificate, free of charge, to the
patient upon discharge from the institution. Any other document that the
patient may require for insurance claims shall also be made available to him
within reasonable period of time.

10. The Right to Leave

• The patient has the right to leave the hospital or any other health care
institution regardless of his physical condition, Provided, that the
qualifications listed in the first paragraph of Subsection 7 hereof are
satisfied.
• No patient shall be detained against his will in any health care institution on
the sole basis of his failure to fully settle his financial obligations with the
physician or the health care institution.

11. The Right to Refuse Participation in Medical Research:

• The patient has the right to be advised if the health care provider plans to
involve him in medical research, including but not limited to human
experimentation that may affect his care or treatment. Such human
experimentation may be performed only with the written informed consent of
the patient.

12. The Right to Correspondence and Receive Visitor

• The patient has the right to communicate with relatives and other persons and
to receive visitors subject to reasonable limits prescribed the rules regulations
of the health care institution.

13. Right to Express Grievances

• The patient has the right to express the grievances about the care and services
received. The Secretary of Health, in consultation with health care providers,
consumer groups and other concerned agencies, shall establish a grievances
system wherein a patient may seek redness of their grievances. Such a settle
amicably all grievances.
 14. Right to be Informed of His Rights and Obligations as a Patient

• Every person has the right to be informed of his rights and obligations as a
patient. The Department of Health, in coordination with health care providers,
professional and civic groups, the media, health insurance corporations,
people’s organizations, local government units and other government agencies
and non-government organizations, shall launch and sustain nationwide
information and education campaign to make to people their rights as patients,
as declared in this Act.

NURSES’ BILL OF RIGHTS

The following Nurses Bill of Rights was adopted by the ANA Board of Director on June
26, 2001

1. Nurses have the right to practice in a manner that fulfills their obligations to
society and to those who receive nursing care.
2. Nurses have the right to practice in environments that allow them to act in
accordance with professional standards and legally authorized scopes of
practice.
3. Nurses have the right to a work environment that supports and facilitates
ethical practice, in accordance with the Code of Ethics for Nurses and its
interpretive statements.
4. Nurses have the right to freely and openly advocate for themselves and their
patients, without fear of retribution.
5. Nurses have the right to fair compensation for their work, consistent with their
knowledge, experience, and professional responsibilities.
6. Nurses have the right to a work environment that is safe for themselves and
their patients.
7. Nurses have the right to negotiate the conditions of their employment, either
as individuals or collectively, in all practice settings.

The following additional rights are posed by “The Nurse’s Lounge” website:

8. Nurses have the right no to be abused in any form by physicians, pharmacists,

administrators or nursing directors, Any abuse that occurs should be dealt with
in a professional and in partial manner by the nurse’s employer.
9. Nurses have the right no to be exploited and abused by being floated to areas
of practice that they are not familiar with.
10. Nurses have the right to refuse any assignment that they feel is unsafe. Such
as when a nurse is assigned a patient load he/she feels is unsafe. A nurse is
assigned to work in an area of nursing in which he/she is not familiar. A nurse
knows that equipment/supplies are inadequate or not available. (Nursing
Power Website, Accessed 1/31/05
BILL OF RIGHTS AND RESPONSIBILITIES FOR STUDENTS OF NURSING

The following bill of rights of student nurses was adopted by the National Students
Nurses’ Association (NSNA) of America in 1991.

1. Students should be encouraged to develop the capacity for critical judgment

and engage in a sustained and independent search for truth.
2. The freedom to teach and the freedom to learn are inseparable facets of
academic freedom: students should exercise their freedom in a responsible
manner.
3. Each institution has a duty to develop policies and procedures which provide a
safeguard the students’ freedom to learn.
4. Under no circumstances should a student be barred from admission to a
particular institution on the basis of race, creed, sex, color, national origin,
handicap, or marital status.
5. Students should be free to take reasoned exception to the data or views offered
in any course of study and to reserve judgment about matters of opinion, but
they are responsible for learning the content of any course of study for which
they are enrolled.
6. Students should have protection through orderly procedures against prejudiced
or capricious academic evaluation, but they are responsible for maintaining
standards of academic performance established for each course in which they
are enrolled.
7. Information about student views, beliefs, political ideation, or sexual
orientation which instructors acquire in the course of their work or otherwise,
should be considered confidential and not released without the knowledge or
consent of the student, and should not be used as a basis of evaluation.
8. The student should have the right to have a responsible voice in the
determination of his/her curriculum.
9. Institutions should have the right to have a carefully considered policy as to
the information which should be part of a student’s permanent educational
record and as to the conditions of this disclosure.
10. Students and student organizations should be free to examine and discuss all
questions of interest to them, and to express opinions publicity and privately.
11. Students should be allowed to invite and to hear any person of their own
choosing within the institution’s acceptable realm, thereby taking the
responsibility of furthering their education.
12. The student body should have clearly defined means to participate in the
formulation and application of institutional policy affecting academic and
student membership or representation on faculty committees.
13. The institution has an obligation to clarify those standards of behavior which
considers essential to its educational mission, its community life, or its
objectives and philosophy.
14. Disciplinary proceedings should be instituted only for violations of standards
of conduct formulated with significant student participation and published in
 advance through such means as a student handbook or a generally available
set of institutional regulations. It is the responsibility of the student to know
these regulations. Grievance procedures should be available for every student.
15. As citizens and members of an academic community, students are subjected to
the obligations which accrue to them by virtue of this membership and should
enjoy the same freedoms of citizenship.
16. Students have the right to belong or refuse to belong to any organization of
their choice.
17. Students have the right to personal privacy in their living space to the extent
that the welfare and property of others are respected.
18. Adequate safety precautions should be provided by nursing programs, for
example, adequate street lighting, locks, and other safety measures deemed
necessary by the environment.
19. Dress code, if present in school, should be established with student input in
conjunction with the school director and faculty, so the highest professional
standards are maintained, but also taking into consideration points of comfort
and practically for the student.
20. Grading systems should be carefully reviewed periodically with students and
faculty for clarification and better student – faculty understanding.
21. Students should have a clear mechanism for input into the evaluation of
nursing faculty. (NSNA Website, Accessed 1/31/05)