An investigation of patients’ perceptions of nursing care: case of intensive care.

Abstract

Introduction: Intensive care units are different from other hospital areas due to the nature of patients and illnesses, treatment methods, and physical and emotional environment. This difference can also create differences in nursing care and patients’ perceptions of this care. The present study aims to identify intensive care patients’ perceptions of nursing care. Method: Target population of this descriptive and cross sectional study was all patients who were in the intensive care units of five hospitals (1 research hospital, 1 training hospital, 3 state hospitals) with different status in Adana/Turkey. The participants were 368 patients who met the research criteria. The data were collected through “Personal Information Form” and “Patient Perception of the Quality of Nursing Care (PPQNC)” which identified patients’ perceptions of nursing care. Results: The participants were 368 patients, 148 (40.2%) female and 220 (59.8%) male, the average age of the participants was 56.9±15.7. The median of the PPQNC total score was found 73 (70.56±6.80). There was a statistically significant relationship between PPQNC scores and the hospitals where the study was conducted (p=0.016). Mean rank values were higher in married patients when compared to single patients (p=0.031), in patients with income higher than expenses when compared to patients with income less than expenses (p=0.013) and with income equal to expenses (p=0.017), in illiterate patients when compared to the patients who graduated from primary school (p=0.023) and high school (p=0.040), and in patients who graduated from university when compared to the patients who graduated from primary school (p=0.029). Conclusion: It was found that PPQNC scores were high and patient’s satisfaction levels with the nursing care they received were good