Evaluation of Patient Satisfaction with Nursing Care at Two Public Hospitals in Kenya: An Interventional Study

Introduction: Patients' satisfaction with nursing care has been reported as the most important predictor of the overall satisfaction with hospital care. However, measuring patient satisfaction within health care settings still needs more emphasis. This is mainly because, as in other organizations and sectors, surveys have tended to focus on managers' and clinician's agendas and not on questions meaningful to patients which can be translated into actions. Study Design and Objectives: This quasi experimental study aimed at evaluating the level of patient satisfaction with quality of nursing in two public hospitals in Kenya after the nurses were trained on the use of the nursing process and nursing theory in patient care with an emphasis on patient participation in care. Structured self-administered questionnaires and a Likert like scale were used to collect data which analyzed by use of SPSS. Descriptive statistics were used in data presentation. Chisquare test of significance was used to determine the difference between pre-test and posttest while logistic regression analysis was used to predict the determinants of satisfaction at post-test. Findings: The findings showed a significant difference (p<0.05) between pre-test and post-test on the level of patient satisfaction with the variables evaluated. Logistic regression findings showed that females were more likely to be satisfied with the introduction they received in the ward (OR1.82,95%CI1.074-3.3098) compared to their male counter parts. Also patients with primary level of education were less likely to be satisfied with the information received on introduction (OR 0.568,95%CI0.334–0.967). Conclusion: The study concluded that Majority of the patients in both study groups were satisfied with the information received on admission, satisfied with orientation and with the overall quality of nursing care they received. Also the level of education influenced patients' perception of individualized quality care. Therefore equipping patients with education can help them understand their health care needs and also appreciate quality when it's provided.