Patients’ satisfaction with the traditional nursing care and care provided in Primary Nursing

Introduction. Transformations in the present-day nursing care are not imposed only by changes within the professional community or the
whole health care system, but first and above all by wider health needs of the society. They have been increasingly interested in the
assessment of medical care.

Aim of the study. The aim of this study was to compare patients’ satisfaction with nursing care provided in a traditional way and within an
individualized system of Primary Nursing. The author also sought for the answer if organization of nursing work has a significant effect on
patients’ satisfaction with nursing care.

Material and methods. The research was conducted in the clinic in Berlin between 2009 and 2010. In this survey-based study patients’
satisfaction with nursing care provided within the Primary Nursing system was measured by means of a standardized research tool The
Newcastle Satisfaction with Nursing Scale (NSNS).

Results. The results obtained show that the patients in the geriatric ward evaluated their experiences with nursing care higher than those in
the surgery ward. Opinions about the level of satisfaction with nursing care were similar. Some 53.4% of the geriatric ward patients and
51.5% of the surgery ward patients assessed their stay in hospital as generally very good.

Conclusions. The nurses taking care of the patients within the Primary Nursing system were definitely more aware of patients’ needs than
the nurses working in the traditional way. Nursing services were generally assessed as very good. Therefore, the system of nursing care is not
the only one factor which have an influence on quality of nursing.

Nursing Topics 2011; 19 (2): 177–184