CPD

Understanding the relevance of human rights in healthcare and nursing practice

Louise Terry Associate Professor, London South Bank University, London, England

Roger Newham Senior Lecturer, School of Nursing, Institute of Clinical Sciences, College of Medical and Dental Sciences, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, England

Why you should read this article:

• To understand the concept of human rights
• To recognise the difference between human rights and healthcare needs
• To be able to explain the role of human rights in relation to healthcare

While the NHS aims to respect the human rights of every individual, it also has a wider social duty to promote equality in the services it provides. This means that the rights of individual patients are not absolute, because the aim of the NHS is to improve the overall health and well-being of the nation. For example, certain treatments may be withheld from individuals because of the excessive cost to the NHS, or concerns about its clinical effectiveness. This article explains the origins of human rights and their function, and examines the relationship between nursing care and human rights.

Nursing Standard. doi: 10.7748/ns.2020.e11490

Peer review

This article has been subject to external double-blind peer review and checked for plagiarism using automated software

Correspondence

terrylm@lsbu.ac.uk

Conflict of interest

None declared

Terry L, Newham R (2020) Understanding the relevance of human rights in healthcare and nursing practice. Nursing Standard. doi: 10.7748/ns.2020.e11490

Published online: 09 November 2020

Keywords :

ethical issues - ethical practice - human rights - Human Rights Act - legal issues - professional