Introduction
Quality improvement is an essential process of any healthcare organization. Many studies are devoted to finding new ways of creating, improving, and evaluating the strategies and theories for medical services. The concept of quality evaluation is as significant as the creation of new approaches to quality improvement because it allows the professionals to determine the efficiency of different methods.
Currently, many studies are determined to find a correlation between patient satisfaction and nursing care. Some authors argue that patient satisfaction surveys can show results that are too broad to draw particular conclusions (Al-Abri & Al-Balushi, 2014). However, many of these studies can assist medical professionals to interpret patient satisfaction as a viable resource for quality improvement. For example, a study by Papastavrou, Andreou, Tsangari, and Merkouris (2014) explores the connection between patient satisfaction and nursing care. The establishment of the correlation between these two factors is very significant to nursing because it can help professional nurses create special questionnaires and determine the quality of care in their organizations with the help of patients.
Measuring Patient Satisfaction
It is important to evaluate patient satisfaction because patients are the main care receivers in any healthcare establishment. However, the ways to measure this particular information differ significantly from field to field. Researchers can distinguish quantitative and qualitative methods. Qualitative surveys can bring new and unique data for medical and nursing professionals that want to hear patients’ suggestions on new implementations.
Quantitative questionnaires, on the other hand, can help healthcare providers to assess the data on existing services and their level of quality. This approach to the measurement of patient satisfaction is helpful for assessing such factors as nurses’ competency, the quality of food, water, and other indirect care services, and the amount of time that nurses devote to every patient.
Impact of Satisfaction Surveys on Quality Improvement
After choosing a suitable approach to surveying the patients and collecting the results, nurses can implement these results in their care. Such satisfaction interviews can have a significant impact on the improvement of quality. On the one hand, any negative experiences that are reported by patients can be examined closely to find the root of the dissatisfaction. Then, the source of discontent can be changed or removed.
The positive experiences, on the other hand, can be investigated to reinforce the practices that lead to patient satisfaction. According to Sherwood and Barnsteiner (2017), patients’ safety is one of the main concerns of this process. Other topics may include patients’ ability to connect to medical professionals, understanding of medical procedures, and satisfaction with direct and indirect nursing care aspects.
For example, the survey by Papastavrou et al. (2014) links patient satisfaction and nursing care rationing. According to the authors, the results of this study show the correlation between these two factors, including the direct connection between technical care, interpersonal relationships, and overall patient satisfaction. The results establish the significance of direct nursing care as opposed to indirect nursing care, such as “food, cleanliness, and minimization of noise as well as the information subscale” (Papastavrou et al., 2014, p. 30). These patients have a significant impact on the structure of the hospital. If this survey is taken into notice, service providers may improve the quality of care by focusing on nursing education.
Conclusion
Patients are the main service receivers in the medical field. Their opinion on the quality of healthcare should be considered and evaluated. Patient satisfaction surveys are a great way to approach this assessment, as they can include useful information and produce different results according to the care provider’s needs. All in all, patient satisfaction can significantly affect quality improvement in healthcare.
References
Al-Abri, R., & Al-Balushi, A. (2014). Patient satisfaction survey as a tool towards quality improvement. Oman medical journal, 29(1), 3-7.
Papastavrou, E., Andreou, P., Tsangari, H., & Merkouris, A. (2014). Linking patient satisfaction with nursing care: The case of care rationing – a correlational study. BMC nursing, 13(1), 26-31.
Sherwood, G., & Barnsteiner, J. (Eds.). (2017). Quality and safety in nursing: A competency approach to improving outcomes (2nd ed.). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.