Patient satisfaction with the quality of nursing care rendered in public hospitals within Makhado Municipality of Limpopo Provicne: South Africa

Abstract

Background: Patient satisfaction has become an important indicator to measure the quality of care rendered to the patients while in hospital. Patient satisfaction surveys can help identify ways of improving nursing and health care services. The purpose of this study was to assess the patient satisfaction with nursing care in selected public hospitals. Methods: A non-experimental, exploratory, descriptive design was used to obtain data by means of questionnaires. The population of this study consisted of all patients admitted in all two sampled hospitals of Vhembe district in Limpopo province. Respondents were selected by probability, systematic random sampling of 200 men and women who were admitted in the sampled public hospital at the time of data collections were recruited to participate in this study. A questionnaire with open and close ended questions was used to collect data.

Results: This study found that mean patient satisfaction with nursing care rendered score was significantly low at public hospitals (49.3%), the majority of the respondents (71.8%) reported that nurses do not respond on calls, helpless patients were not fed by

(63.7%) respondents. However, communication and offering emotional support dimensions of nursing care had lowest score (9.3%). Conclusion: Therefore, it is recommended to plan and implement the training programmes needed for nurses to improve their knowledge and skills of communication and use of emotional support measures for the patients.