Cardiac Patients’ Perception of a Good Nursing Care: A Cross-Sectional Study

Background:

Patients’ perceptions of the quality of care can influence the quality of healthcare.

Objective:

This study aimed to explore cardiac patients’ perception of a good nursing care.

Methods:

In this cross-sectional study conducted from February to June 2017, 200 patients in 10 coronary care units of public hospitals of Lorestan province, Iran were selected by stratified random sampling. The revised form of Good Nursing Care Scale was used to measure the perceived quality of nursing care experienced by the patients. This scale contained 37 items and seven subscales responded through a five-option Likert scale. The data were entered into the SPSS software, version 21 and were analyzed using descriptive statistics, independent t-test, and one-way analysis of variance.

Results:

The mean reported perception level was 2.81, which was relatively high. The highest level of quality was related to the nursing staff characteristics (M ± SD: 3.28 ± 0.90), while the lowest was related to the patients’ coping strategies (M ± SD: 2.37 ± 1.02). The results revealed a statistically significant difference in the patients’ perceptions of nursing care quality based on the place of hospitalization, having or not having the history of hospital stay, and information given about care and treatment.

Conclusion:

From the perspective of the patients, the quality of nursing care was relatively high. Considering the findings of “the coping strategies” subscale and its importance in adapting patients to new conditions, it should be taken into account by the healthcare team. Additionally, the patients’ active participation in decision-making and effective interactions have to be considered in order to improve their coping with the disease.