Patient satisfaction is important for hospitals and healthcare providers. It is measured using surveys like HCAHPS which assess patient perceptions of care. High patient satisfaction is important for hospitals as it influences reimbursement and can incentivize improving quality. Nurses play a key role in patient satisfaction through fundamentals like communication, personalized care, and accountability. Hospitals should focus on initiatives that empower nurses and improve organizational culture to boost both patient satisfaction and nurse satisfaction.

1. Nurses Understanding
Of Patient Satisfaction

2. What is Patient Satisfaction
Patient satisfaction is the ability to provide patient centered care that creates a
culture that accepts people unconditionally and provides quality care that
involves the mind, body and spirit.
It is seen as a way of determining hospitals abilities and functionality.
Patients are the foundation of any institute and the medical care provided. It
is a must that they are happy and satisfied while in need of care.

3. Why is Patient Satisfaction Important ?
Rising costs are huge in healthcare secondary to:-
• Malpractice costs
• Physician and Nurse turnover
• Limited resources to ensure profitability
• Hospital Reimbursement is effected by patient satisfaction scores.
HCAHPS (Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems) survey
is the first national, standardized, publicly reported survey of patients' perspectives of
hospital care.

4. Importance continued…
The survey allows data collection methodology for measuring patients
perceptions. Scores are publicly reported and comparisons can be made to
local hospitals as well as regional and national hospitals.
3 Goals of HCAHPS:
1- Objective and meaningful comparisons of hospitals
2- Incentive for hospitals to improve quality care
3- Increase accountability in healthcare by increasing transparency of the quality of care
provided. (cms.gov “hospital HCAHPS”.2014)

5. Why do we need patient satisfaction
• Increase in lay persons knowledge base
• Increase in awareness of professional fallibility and diagnostic uncertainty
• Increase in skepticism regarding medicine
• Shift in focus of care from acute to chronic illness
• Increase in accountability

6. Challenges for nurses and patient satisfaction
• Changes in staffing structures – less nurses are employed and more health
care assistants are utilized for bedside nursing roles.
• Increased stress and emotional levels of patients – e.g. Pain and anxiety
• Increase in the knowledge gap between professional competence and patient
understanding
• Changes in technology – Increase in use of computers causing care away
from bedside.

7. Fundamentals of Patient Satisfaction
• Improved communication
• Quality care – Quality the patient receives is secondary to standardized
practice and consistent high patient satisfaction and experiences are
secondary to continuous quality improvement. (Example of better
management of pain).
• Personal Attention – nurses need to ensure individualized care and spend
time with the family and patient to ensure personalized care.

8. Fundamentals continued…
• Staff Accountability
- All staff are accountable for their role.
- Clear guidelines and responsibilities need to be set.
- Performance monitored with positive feedback and
measurable goals set in place.
- consequence reporting needs to be ensured

9. Fundamentals Continued….
• Sound Organizational Culture
- Strong hospital culture supports quality patient experience
- Effective input from organization and long term strategies
- Positive hospital culture driving staff motivation which in-turn increases dedication and duty

10. Measurements of patient satisfaction
Structured questionnaires (HCAHPS)
Staff Input and opinions
Evaluation from the patient
Exit Interviews
Media Coverage
Community Response and input leads to
increased number of pateint.
Suggestion Boxes
Repeat visits and continuity of care at same
facility.
Patient Satisfaction
Analysis

12. Patient Education
Provides patient with one to one time to explain conditions,
treatments, plan of care and ask any questions to alleviate
fears . Increases trust, communication and caring attitude
Bedside Report – Empowers the
patient to participate in the care .
Increases communication and job
satisfaction
Sitting – Encourage nurses to
complete charting at the bedside
to ensure patient is given time and
demonstrates nurse is active in
care
Hourly Rounding –
Provides patients and
nurses a structure and
planned workflow
Improve
Communication
by using tools such
as scripting
Supplies – Ensure nurses have required tools and
resources to perform all their duties with ease.
Uniforms –
Ensure nurses
are easily
identifiable.
Nurse led initiatives and empowerment.
Nurses will become more engaged in projects, feel
empowered, have increased accountability and increased job
satisfaction. Nurses with autonomy will provide better patient
care . Include nurse committees.
Caring. Patient satisfaction comes when
patients feel cared for. Allow time for staff to
deliver basic caring needs such as comfort
measures.
Image Source – tibco.com
Ways to Help nurses improve Patient satisfaction

13. Conclusion
• Patient satisfaction is vital to nursing in todays world.
• Developing and utilizing standardized tools and surveys enables consistent
standards of quality care to be provided and monitored.
• High patient satisfaction leads to patient empowerment, greater
communication, confidence and better outcomes.
• Greater job satisfaction for staff. Higher level of quality care provided and
best practice to be utilized throughout all care rendered.

14. References
• HospitalHCAHPS. (2014, September 25). CMS.Gov,
https://www.cms.gov/Medicare/Quality-Initiatives-Patient-Assessment-
Instruments/HospitalQualityInits/HospitalHCAHPS.html