Patient satisfaction with nursing care at medical and surgical wards of Mbale regional referral hospital

Abstract

The majority of studies from developing countries show that patient satisfaction with nursing care is below average. That means that more than half of the patients are dissatisfied, despite the fact that satisfaction is directly related to better health outcomes. In Uganda, overall patient satisfaction with health care delivery is still extremely low (25% in 2018). Patient satisfaction with nursing care remains unresolved in Uganda. If interventions are to be developed to improve overall patient satisfaction, assessments in different health-care capacities may be necessary to identify gaps. As a result, patient satisfaction with nursing care outcomes from this study could be extremely beneficial in this endeavor. Objectives: 1) To assess the level of patients’ satisfaction with nursing care provided in the medical and surgical wards of Mbale RRH. 2) To determine factors that may affect patients’ satisfaction with nursing care. Methods The study was done from November to December of 202 at Mbale Regional Referral Hospital using a cross-sectional study design. Simple random sampling technique was employed to recruit 213 sampled study participants. A data collection tool with patients’ descriptive characteristics and the Newcastle Satisfaction with Nursing Scale (NSNS)was utilized. Stata version 15 was used to analyze the data, which was presented in tables and graphs. To identify factors associated with patient satisfaction with nursing care, bivariable and multivariable logistic regressions were computed. The significance and strength of the association was declared using P-values < 0.05 with (CI) of 95% Result A total of 213 patients participated. Participants average age was 40.7 (SD, 14.7, min=18 and max=77) years. The mean score the patients obtained from the Satisfaction with Nursing Care Scale (NSNS) was 67.413±16.1 (min=30.263 and max=94.737) on 0-100scale.After dichotomizing satisfaction into ‘satisfied’ and ‘not satisfied’ using the mean satisfaction score as the cut off, 50.23% (n=107) of the study participants were satisfied with the care provided by nurses. Patients were more satisfied with the amount of time nurses spent with them (2.88±0.88)and there always being a nurse around if they needed one (2.83±0.84). Patients were least satisfied with the amount of privacy nurses gave them (2.48±1.07) and how nurses listened to their worries and concerns (2.57±1.06). Regarding the factors affecting the satisfaction, patients aged below 45 and those with higher levels of education where least satisfied whereas patients who were admitted to a surgical ward, who had a chronic condition, and those who had spent more than 10 days on the ward were more satisfied than their counterparts. Conclusion In this study, the level of patient satisfaction with nursing care was average. It shows that the care needs of hospitalized patients are yet not satisfied to some extent. These findings may motivate hospital administrators, authorities, and nurses to pay more attention to patients' distinct characteristics, concerns, and anxieties, as well as maintaining patient privacy when providing care. Improving personnel to minimize workload, improving ward architecture and providing privacy screens, and scheduling refresher trainings will all help to improve the quality of care offered and hence increase patient satisfaction.