Personal dignity is the fundamental value that must guide every act of care. This is not an abstract principle: it translates into concrete behaviour, everyday choices and a professional attitude that recognises the person receiving care as someone with a history, wishes and inalienable rights.
Respecting patient autonomy
Everyone has the right to make decisions about their own care, even when those decisions do not match the professional’s recommendations. The principle of autonomy requires patients to be properly informed, their preferences to be heard and respected. Informed consent is not a bureaucratic formality: it is an act of respect for the person.
Privacy and confidentiality at home
Home care takes place in a person’s most private space. Professionals must always remember that they are guests in someone else’s home: they must respect routines, habits, spaces and family relationships, and treat all information with the utmost confidentiality.
The person-centred approach
Person-Centred Care is not only a theoretical model: it is a philosophy of care that places patients at the centre, as active participants in their own care pathway. Knowing the life story, values, preferences and wishes of the person receiving care transforms care from a technical service into an authentic human encounter.
📚 Scientific evidence
- Beauchamp T.L., Childress J.F. (2019). Principles of Biomedical Ethics. 8th ed. Oxford University Press.
- McCormack B., McCance T. (2017). Person-Centred Practice in Nursing and Health Care. Wiley-Blackwell.
- FNOPI (2019). Codice deontologico dell’infermiere. Roma: Federazione Nazionale Ordini Professioni Infermieristiche.
