Are hospitalized patients aware of the right to pastoral service? – preliminary results of the research

Introduction: Patients’ rights are an integral part of human rights. One of the basic patients’ rights is the right to pastoral service during hospital stay. Managers of medical outposts have a legal obligation to provide patients with a possibility to participate in religious ceremonies and contact their chaplain in the hospital.
Objectives: To evaluate the awareness of the right to pastoral service during hospital stay among people treated in the Department of General and Vascular Surgery.
Material and methods: A test group of 50 patients treated in the Department of General and Vascular Surgery were set an examination carried out by means of a survey designed by the authors in which instruments testing the knowledge of the right to pastoral service during hospital stay were applied.
Results: The analysis of the results reveals that the awareness and knowledge of the patient’s right to pastoral service during hospital stay are not high.
Conclusions: Evaluating the knowledge of the right to pastoral service during hospital stay, we can conclude that the awareness and knowledge are not very high. It is necessary to inform and educate patients as to their rights during their stay in hospital.