Relationship of Nursing Unit Structure to Patient Satisfaction - Assignment Example

? Qualitative Nursing Research Critique on the Relationship of Nursing Unit Structure to Patient Satisfaction A study conducted in medical-surgical settings with regard to the relationship of patient characteristics to the organizational structure of the nursing unit was able to explain how certain factors such as nursing staffing in a hospital and hospital size could affect not just the satisfaction of the patients but their overall well-being as well. It was found out that higher levels of patient satisfaction were associated with more numbers of available nursing staff and other support services. Also, organizational factors can directly affect the nurses’ work management and motivation, which in turn could affect patient satisfaction based on the basis of care and services that were being provided. Qualitative Nursing Research Critique on the Relationship of Nursing Unit Structure to Patient Satisfaction In the field of medicine, most of the time patients under similar diagnoses may not have similar outcomes. This makes for the uncertainty that is commonly present under medical conditions (Lubin, Smith, Dodson, Spell, & Walker, 2010). What can be certain however is the satisfaction or dissatisfaction of both the patients and the level of engagement of the nursing staff that serves them. In a study conducted by Bacon and Mark in 2009, they were able to make a connection between the management and organization of nursing staff units and the level of satisfaction of patients and their characteristics under medical-surgical settings in 146 hospitals. By finding out how the response and availability of nursing staff could affect the satisfaction of patients in inpatient settings, the research was able to conclude that modifications in the work structure and the engagement levels of staff could give better service to patients, especially those recovering from surgeries. This is most significant to nurses that are under medical-surgical settings since most of the time they have to deal with patients who would need medications to alleviate pain (Mills, 2006). During the course of the study, the authors had a purpose of providing an improved solution to patient problems such as pain management in inpatient settings. The study was conducted in order to examine the connection of patients’ characteristics and level of satisfaction to the hospital environment that they are in, as well as the organizational structures of the nursing units and the total impact of such structure in the contentment of the admitted patients (Bacon & Mark, 2009). They focused on the numerous reports of patients who have or had problems with regards to the interaction between them and their care providers, and this is one of the leading causes of their dissatisfaction during hospital stays. The research question is apparent in their premise of finding a solution, and that in order to give patients a more satisfying stay in the hospital, factors that can affect them directly are sought out and sorted, finding a better way for nursing staff to deliver better services in the process. The study’s finding that there should also be satisfaction at the level of the nursing staff in order to deliver better services coincides with a previous report that high levels of stress and low motivation among nurses have a great impact on the mortality and the failure of rescuing patients in some hospitals in PA (Aiken, Clarke, Sloane, Lake, & Cheney, 2008). This is very significant for the field of nursing especially due to the nature of providing not just treatment but also care to all patients. By making improvements in the efficiency, technology, work processes and organizational design of the nursing staff, they may be able to increase their productivity without sacrificing too much of their personal time. In turn, the satisfied nurses can be much more effective in delivering care safely to their patients (Hendrich, Chow, Skierczynsky, & Lu, 2008). The study design of the experiment was done according to the definitions of qualitative research. More emphasis was given on the descriptive characteristics of the factors involved in the study, such as satisfaction ratings of both patients and nurses presented in the form of questionnaire survey (Bacon & Mark, 2009). Since the research needs to find out the satisfaction ratings of both nurses and patients, the hospital settings of the research was appropriate enough to generate the needed results. The privacy of all participants of the survey were properly protected, and none of them were directly identifiable since the report only has generalized statements with regards as to who and when the surveys were made. Since the settings were in hospitals, the welfare, safety and treatment of the patients were still the top priority of the study. Also, there is sufficient sample size for the data that was generated, wherein 3718 registered nurses and 2720 patients in 146 hospitals were the respondents to the surveys conducted. The methods used in the study were quite appropriate and enough information with regards to the variables used in the study presented in tables clear. All procedures starting from the patients and nursing staff all the way up to the organizational structure and its effectiveness according to patients’ ratings were described in detail. There is no evidence of data saturation as described in the results and discussion part. Most of the findings indicated in the paper seem like benchmarks, and the results were mostly explained statistically using descriptive statistics such as goodness of fit tests and Tucker-Lewis indices. This is a good indication of the qualitative nature of the study, most especially when the only data that were generated were the satisfaction ratings of all survey respondents. Not many references to other materials were mentioned with regards to the outcome of the statistical analyses conducted in the study. Although the methods and discussions were mostly summarized, there is still enough scientific rigor in the text because of the specificity of the methods that were used, even more so due to the descriptive nature of the study. Only a few statistical methods are available for descriptive research, and numerous books can support the methods used and the data acquired in this study. The study’s conclusion was clearly stated, and that in order for hospitals to give better quality services to their patients, they should also have an atmosphere that is highly-conducive and has good working conditions for the nurses to work in. When the staff is engaged fully and proactive in the service of their patients, the patients are able to feel that their needs are taken care of, thereby gaining a satisfaction in the services provided by the hospital staff (Bacon & Mark, 2009). Although the authors mentioned that they have several limitations such as the potential sample bias in sampling, the demographics of the patients and nursing staff involved in the study, as well as the exclusion of potential patients that may have lower satisfaction ratings regardless of whatever services they might have had. Also, since the patients have limited interactions with other healthcare providers, they might not have recorded any other untoward incidents with regards to other staff in the hospital. The authors mentioned that although there in a need to further study the links between nursing staff engagement and patient satisfaction in hospital settings, they were able to conclude with confidence that their study was able to show how organizational make-up, nursing unit and patient characteristics could affect patient satisfaction in hospital settings directly. References Aiken, L., Clarke, S., Sloane, D., Lake, E., & Cheney, T. (2008). Effects of hospital care environment on patient mortality and nurse outcomes. Journal of Nursing Administration, 38 (5): 223-229. Bacon, C., & Mark, B. (2009). Organizational effects on patient satisfaction in hospital medical-surgical units. Journal of Nursing Administration, 39 (5): 220-227. Hendrich, A., Chow, M., Skierczynsky, B., & Lu, Z. (2008). A 36-hospital time and motion study: how do medical-surgical nurses spend their time? The Permanente Journal, 12 (3): 25-34. Lubin, M., Smith, R., Dodson, T., Spell, N., & Walker, H. (2010). Medical management of the surgical patient: a textbook of perioperative medicine. Cambridge, MA: Cambridge University Press. Mills, E. (. (2006). Handbook of medical-surgical nursing. Ambler, PA: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. Read More