Purpose:The purpose of this study was to identify the discrepancies in the service needs and nursing performance perceived by patients and nurses and to explain patient service satisfaction for comprehensive nursing care services.
Methods:The descriptive survey was conducted with the convenience samples of 100 inpatients and 100 nurses from 3 general wards where the comprehensive nursing care service was implemented. The outcome measures included service needs perceived by patients and nurses, nursing performance perceived by patients and nurses, and patients service satisfaction. The descriptive statistics were conducted to describe the discrepancies (gaps) on service need and nursing performance perceived by patients and nurses, and a multiple regression analysis was used to explain patients service satisfaction with the gaps after controlling for the age and hospital days.
Result:1) The service needs perceived by the patients (M=4.07, SD=1.07) was higher than the scores by nurses (M=3.92, SD=0.80) consistently in therapeutic, physical and education areas. The service needs in emotional areas were similar for both groups. 2) The nursing performance perceived by the patients (M=3.12, SD=0.85) was lower than the scores by nurses (M=3.34, SD=0.59) consistently in physical, educational, and emotional areas. The nursing performance in therapeutic area was similar for both groups. 3) Gap1 (discrepancy on service needs) and Gap2 (discrepancy on nursing performance) explained 65.2% of variance in patients service satisfaction, while only Gap2 was the significant predictor (t=12.93, p<.001).
Conclusion:In conclusion, the patients perceived their service needs higher than nurses while they perceived level of nursing performance was much less than the level oerceived by nurses at the comprehensive nursing care service units. The Gap2 (discrepancy on nursing performance) was significantly predict patients service satisfaction. The findings suggested the nursing case service should be focused on areas with high service needs and low nursing performance perceived by patients. Those discrepancies on service needs and nursing performance should be considered to improve the quality of nursing service and patient safety while reducing the care burden in comprehensive nursing care service units.