Your Right to Receive Health Care in a Safe Setting
You have the right to be safe from abuse or neglect in a health care setting, such as a doctor’s office, hospital, nursing home, or care facility.
- You have the right to be safe from being punished or retaliated against during health care.
- This means you cannot get into trouble by saying what you want and feel during an appointment or not saying what you want or feel.
Examples of punishment or retaliation during health care can be:
- Restraint – holding you down or strapping you down for no reason.
- Seclusion – leaving you alone in a room without being able to talk to someone or leaving you alone for no reason.
- Harassment – saying and doing mean things to you like a bully.
- Physical punishment – hurting or injuring your body.
Punishment is never okay.
Retaliation is never okay.
Verbal abuse means that someone is shouting or yelling at you, or that someone is threatening you or using mean words with you.
Physical abuse means that someone is hurting you, kicking you, punching you, scratching you, or holding you down against your wishes.
Sexual abuse is when someone asks you to touch their private parts or to kiss them, even if you are not boyfriend or girlfriend.
Sexual abuse is also when someone touches your private parts or kisses you when you don’t want them to do this. It is also sexual abuse if someone shows you pictures or videos of people touching each other’s private parts when you don’t want to see it.
Sometimes, doctors may have to examine your private parts to make sure that you are healthy or to treat you when you are ill.
Your support person should know that this will happen at your doctor’s visit.
The doctor should have another healthcare person, like a nurse, in the room when they do an exam of your private parts.
Neglect can happen in any healthcare settings like:
- a doctor’s office,
- hospital,
- nursing home, or
- other care facility
Neglect means that doctors, nurses, or other health care staff do not take care of you the way they should.
Examples of neglect in health care are when doctors or health care staff:
- do not provide you with a good medical exam,
- do not answer your questions or health concerns,
- say no to giving you treatments you need, or
- say no to giving you medications you need.
Abuse or neglect is never okay!
If you are worried about abuse or neglect you should share any concerns you have with a trusted family member, good friend, or paid support staff who you trust.
Having a trusting relationship with your doctors and other health care workers is your right.