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Hi everyone, Treating patients with dignity is simple. Show them respect unless doing so harms their medical care. If a nurse doesn't know what a particular individual considers being respectful all he or she needs to do is ask the patient or, if necessary, their friends and family. In the USA if a patient tells us they are in physical pain we accept their statement and treat accordingly. Emotional pain elicited by a disrespectful medical care environment should be handled in the same fashion. Respect, incidentally, goes both ways. If a patient is mentally coherent and disrespectful to their nurse or other medical providers they shouldn't get a free ride. The "customer is always right" philosophy is almost always wrong as businesses that have tried it have found out. Nerissa --- On Sat, 11/15/08, June Kikuchi <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > From: June Kikuchi <[log in to unmask]> > Subject: dignity > To: [log in to unmask] > Date: Saturday, November 15, 2008, 2:09 PM > Bear asks and states, > > >> "Who decides what constitutes > "respecting the dignity" of another person? I am > inclined to think that it is presumptuous as well as > potentially sexist, classist, and racist, as well as > intellectually dishonest, to assume that one knows when > another person's dignity will be disrespected. ... Truth > trumps dignity any day." > > Wow!!! What seems to be implied here is that what > constitutes respecting the dignity of another changes from > person to person, group to group, culture to culture, etc.. > First, on what basis should I accept this "truth"? > Second, if what you say is true, then it would seem that a > nurse will have to accept and act by a patient's view of > what constitutes dignity for her/him (her/his version of > truth re: dignity). Here, is "truth trump(ing) > dignity"? > > June