Nursing Leadership : Patient Satisfaction

quality of patient care, and can be implemented in practice, to provide solutions to nursing

Nursing satisfaction has criteria for change; as documented in the Future of Nursing’s report, by the Institute of Medicine in cooperation with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundations’, Campaign for Action. (IOM, 2010) (RWFF, 2010) Both reports lay the groundwork that influences NC current nursing shortage. At the same time; to make health care more affordable, the Affordable Care Act was entered into law (ACA, 2010). Additionally, hospitals and other health care facilities are applying for, and meeting criteria for accreditation and is very clear about implementing a mandatory, entry level, BSN

Patient satisfaction with nursing care and compliance with treatment is a topic that is heavily researched. The problem of decreased patient satisfaction is of great significance due impart to the fact that the level of patient satisfaction coincides with the level of compliance on medical advice, prescriptions, and directions given to patients (Johansson, Oleﰀni, & Fridlund, 2002). Patient satisfaction and compliance is a substantial problem in nursing because there is a large correlation with what patients’ perceive of nursing care and their perception on the quality of care received. Research has indicated that in order to increase patients’ participation in medical care, the patient must be satisfied with nursing care.

The gaps that show areas of improvement are of the nurse’s perceived service and the patient’s perceived experience based on the patient’s expectations (Dabney and Tzang 2013). A patient’s expectations are modeled by past experiences, culture, personal needs, and word of mouth from other patient experiences. If a provider does not implement a patient-centered approach to patient care the patient’s needs cannot be met due to the gap in patient expectations and perceived service (Dabney and Tzang 2013).

Two types of data were collected through surveys, both before and after implementation of the combined approach (Sand-Jecklin and Sherman,2014). The first data was on nurses’ point of view with regards reporting process, and the second on patients view regrading nursing care. The baseline survey included 233 patients and 148 nurses, while the survey three months into the implementation period included 157 patients and 98 nurses. The final survey, 13 months into the impanation, was completed by 154 patients and 54 nurses. The patient survey also included responses from patient families. These were 70, 72, and 53 responses for baseline survey, three-month postimplementation surveys, and 13-month postimplementation surveys.

“Patient outcomes become the ultimate measure of quality as they reflect the influence of both structure and process of care” (Stanik-Hutt et al., 2013, p. 492). The use of patient satisfaction tools is routine in healthcare facilities. What actually do the results of patient satisfaction surveys tell us about the quality of nursing care? The results of patient satisfaction are used to better understand what can be done in the future to improve the patient care outcome, ultimately achieving the most desireable outcome. It is essential to know exactly how APRNs contribute to the quality, safety, and effectiveness of healthcare so that they may be utilized to the best of their abilities to provide evidence based

Nurse practitioners evaluate, diagnose, prescribe and generally care for their patients. A survey was completed on the satisfaction nurse practitioners felt relating to their current job and the general consensus determined, “Overall, NPs in the workforce reported high levels of job satisfaction. NPs were most satisfied with their level of autonomy, time spent in patient care, sense of value for what they do, and respect from physicians and colleagues (Health Resources, 2014).” Nurse practitioners are practicing independently in twenty other states and the district of Columbia and national surveys and statistics are generally showing average or above average scores when compared to care given by a physician. A study was done to evaluate nurse practitioners in April of 2014, that compared the care of Medicare and Medicaid patients and the avoidance of hospital admissions,

The health care is reforming in a way that care delivery models have been formed and people will be paying for quality of care as a whole (Fairman, Rowe, Hassmiller, & Shalala, 2011). The health care reform law is attempting to balance the system of health care resources in that a balance will be yielded to award care value over the volume of care provided. This reform calls into nurse leadership and the input of nurses who contribute the largest labor to the health care system. Registered nurses are vital in the delivery model of patient centered care system.

As nurse leaders, they can inspire fellow nurses to be responsible, hardworking and efficient in their nursing practice. I would want to increase my student satisfaction by empowering their performance and giving them autonomy. I would want students to understand the organizational expectation to be met as a nursing leader. Make them realize the value of becoming mentors for future nurses and direct them through coaching and supervision.

The American Nurses Association is leading the way by implementing countless initiatives to bring attention to the nurses’ essential role in care coordination. It is up to the nurse to step up and draw attention to the integral part they play in improving patient satisfaction, patient care quality, and the effective and efficient use of health care resources (American Nurses Association, 2012).

For nurses, the workload and patient assignments are the most significant factors in their perception of their ability to provide quality care to their patients. Of course, this is directly related to nursing job satisfaction. Nursing is a career in which patient satisfaction and caregiver satisfaction go hand in hand. When the nurse is happy, he or she provides high quality care to the patient, which in turn makes the patient happy. In addition, when the patient is pleased with the care they are receiving, this makes the nurse happy and improves nurse job satisfaction.

Belizario, S. (2011, August). Inspiring change. Boosting patient satisfaction scores-and nurses’ morale. Nursing 2011, 41(8), 18-21. Retrieved from: http://dx.doi.org/doi:http://dx.doi.org.proxy.library.ohiou.edu/10.1097/01.NURSE.0000399591.81228.3e.

Nursing care delivery is defined as the way task allocation, responsibility, and authority are organized to achieve patient care. Tiedeman and Lookinland (2004) suggested that systems of nursing care delivery are a reflection of social values, management ideology, and economic considerations. (Tiedeman&Lookinland, 2004) According to Fewer (2006), the quality of nursing care delivery systems affects continuity of care, the relationship between nurse and patient, morale, nurse job satisfaction and educational preparation.(Fewer, 2006) Nurses are essential human resources to provide medical services with professional knowledge and skills in the healthcare setting. However, the registered nurse turnover rate has increased in recent years resulting

Weston, M. & Roberts, D., 2013, September. The Influence of Quality Improvement Efforts on Patient Outcomes And Nursing Work: A Perspective from Chief Nursing Officers at Three Large Health Systems. The Online Journal of Issues in Nursing. Retrieved on January 23, 2015 from http://www.nursingworld.org/Quality-Improvement-on-Patient-Outcomes.html

By empowering the community of nurses and sustaining employee engagement, patient and employee satisfaction would remain the same, if not increase (6 Leadership strategies for navigating perpetual change in healthcare, 2015). Change is tough for most people and the time to adjust varies with each individual. Taking some time to acknowledge each individual and their needs is an important factor to being a great leader (6 Leadership strategies for navigating perpetual change in healthcare, 2015).