Factors Associated With the Nursing Care Experience of Patients Admitted to Riyadh Region Hospitals

Abstract

Introduction In the contemporary healthcare landscape, the paradigm of patient experience and patient-centered care has emerged as a crucial point for healthcare reform, emphasizing the patient's active role in shaping healthcare systems. Objective This study aimed to investigate the patient experience level of nursing care and examine associated factors among hospitalized patients in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Methods Cross-sectional secondary analysis of patient experience data included more than 8,000 patients discharged from Ministry of Health hospitals in Riyadh during 2022G. The national survey examined patient perceptions of multiple aspects of nursing care. Although most patients gave high overall scores, lower scores were observed for nurse introductions and prompt responses to call buttons. There are opportunities to improve communication and response through interventions targeting nurse staffing, training, and incentives. A checklist called Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology (STROBE) was used to report the study. Results 71.2% Of patients rated their nursing care experience as “very good.” No differences were seen between genders. However, Saudi patients reported higher satisfaction than non-Saudis ( p = .001). The top-scored nursing aspects were friendliness/courtesy (70.2% “very good”) and nurses’ skill level (65.8% “very good”). Lower ratings occurred for nurses who introduced themselves (54.0% “very good”) and for prompt response to call buttons (58.5% “very good”). Targeted improvements in communication and responsiveness could help address these gaps in patient experience scores between nursing care domains. Conclusions Most of the patients indicated overall positive nursing care experiences, which include opportunities for improvement in nurse introductions and responsiveness to patient needs. Boosting communication through nurses consistently introducing themselves and managing heavy workloads to allow faster call button response times could enhance patients’ perceptions of their nursing care quality.