background: Patient rights  are physically, mentally and socially needs in the particular circumstances in which a person is treated .  Thus, nurses are in charge of protecting patients' rights and benefits.In this study the degree to which patient rights are observed and the need for nurses to pay attention to this fact in educational hospitals in Yazd were examined.

Methods: A random sample of 250 nurses from different wards of educational hospitals of Yazd in 1392 was selected and the questionnaire was administered.

Results: In this study which was conducted on 250 nurses, in nurses' opinions, the mean value of the nurses' observance of patient rights was 47.97 % and the mean value of the need to observe their rights from the nurses' points of view was 70.61%. There were no significant correlations between the degree of the observance of patient rights and the need to observe their rights from nurses' points of view.

Conclusion: The findings of the study indicate that the degree of the observance of patient rights is not sufficient. It seems that nurses' awareness of the need to observe the patients' rights does not guarantee their observance.  Probably other parameters influence observance of patient rights.