Patients’ perception towards nursing care and its associated factors in adult inpatient departments in comprehensive specialized hospitals of Northwest Ethiopia, 2023: a mixed methods study

Abstract

BACKGROUND: patients' perceptions towards nursing care describes clients' emotion about the nursing care they have received, which is used to provide essential and holistic information on the overall quality of nursing care. And there was no study that has been conducted in Ethiopia that explores patients' perception towards nursing care through in-depth patient interviews incorporated with quantitative study. Therefore, this study has attempted to fill this gap. METHODS: A convergent parallel mixed-methods design was carried out among 627 adult patients admitted to the inpatient departments of comprehensive, specialized hospitals in Northwest Ethiopia. From March 20, 2023, to April 27, 2023. Participants for the quantitative component were selected using systematic random sampling. For the qualitative component, the principal investigator purposively selected participants until data saturation. Variables with a p-value of less than 0.05 from the multivariable analysis were recognized as statistically significant, coupled with a 95% confidence interval. The Hosmer-Lemshow test was used to assess model fitness, and qualitative data were transcribed, coded, and thematically analyzed using ATLAS.ti version 8. Finally, results from both components were integrated during interpretation. RESULTS: Out of the total 627 participants, 602 completed the study, yielding a response rate of 96.01%. Among the respondents, 50% had a good perception of nursing care. Multivariable analysis revealed that a good perception of nursing care was significantly associated with previous hospitalization history (AOR = 0.42; 95% CI: 0.29-0.63), admission to medical wards (AOR = 0.43; 95% CI: 0.27-0.69), and staying less than seven days in a hospital (AOR = 1.50; 95% CI: 1.03-2.20). In addition, qualitative findings identified key concerns, including communication gaps, delays in care provision, and variability in nurses' attitudes. CONCLUSIONS: Approximately half of admitted adult patients reported a poor perception of nursing care. Prior hospitalization history, admission wards, and the length of time the patient spent in admission were factors associated with good perception of nursing care.