Psychiatric nurses' satisfaction: the effects of closure of a hospital

A survey by questionnaire was carried out to examine the level of nursing staff satisfaction with the acute psychiatric services. Comparisons were made between views of older psychiatric hospitals and newer district general hospital units, and before and after the closure of Friern Barnet Hospital, London, England when the service was reorganized to include fewer beds. The importance of nurses having their say is emphasized, and areas in which improvements can be made are suggested.     

'Not everything that can be counted counts and not everything that counts can be counted'– towards a critical exploration of modes of satisfaction measurement in sheltered housing

This paper reflects on a research project funded by a consortium of leading sheltered housing (SH) providers and their regulatory body, the Housing Corporation. The project aimed to ascertain which aspects of SH older people perceived to be central to their satisfaction and the methods they judged most appropriate to measuring this. We outline key policy developments of importance to SH (specifically the development of performance measurement regimes), and changes in the nature of SH, which are driving providers to re‐evaluate how they measure user satisfaction. We discuss the aims of the project, our methodology and findings, and conclude by raising critical questions about the process of measuring satisfaction within an increasingly managerialised housing system. We argue that this favours standardised methods of information gathering (such as questionnaires) rather than engage with clients in order to develop methods and systems capable of eliciting qualitative issues of concern to them. Our conclusions are, we believe, applicable to health and social care provision, where similar tensions exist around performance measurement and user satisfaction.     

Patient satisfaction with and recommendation of a hospital: effects of interpersonal and technical aspects of hospital care.

OBJECTIVES: To examine patient satisfaction with and recommendation of a hospital, with a special focus on the correlation of these measures to patient ratings of interpersonal and technical performance of the hospital. DESIGN: Telephone survey of patients with four specific conditions after their discharge from hospitals. SETTING: Accredited district teaching hospitals and above, nationwide in Taiwan. PARTICIPANTS: A total of 4945 patients from 126 hospitals diagnosed with or undergoing procedures related to stroke, diabetes mellitus, Caesarean section, or appendectomy were interviewed by telephone. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Overall patient satisfaction and recommendation were measured by single-item questions. Interpersonal skills were measured by three items: doctors' explanation, attitude, and caring. Technical skills were measured by another three items: hospital equipment, clinical competence, and outcome of treatment. RESULTS: Interpersonal skills were as influential or more influential than clinical competence on patient satisfaction for three of the four disease categories. In contrast, technical competence was a more influential predictor for recommendation for patients in all four disease categories. CONCLUSION: The preliminary results imply that a hospital with high percentage of patient satisfaction does not necessarily receive a high level of recommendation. This finding provides new insights for researchers and for hospital managers who devote resources exclusively for achieving the highest possible levels of patient satisfaction.     

护理人文关怀在急诊患者中的应用研究

目的:探讨人文关怀在急诊护理过程中的应用效果.方法:选定100名我科接诊的急诊患者作为研究对象,随机分为两组,每组各50例.A组在护理过程中实施人文关怀,B组在护理过程中不施加人文关怀.以患方满意度作为观察指标,对两组进行比较.结果:A组患方满意度是98%,B组患方满意度是84%.两组比较有显著性差异(X2=4.3956.P=0.0360).结论:在急诊护理过程中,护士应尽可能为患者提供人文关怀,并贯穿于整个护理服务的全过程,使急诊病人及家属满意度与急诊护理质量不断提高,并减少护患纠纷,以利于患者掌握健康知识并早日康复.     

Unemployment and health impairments: Longitudinal analyses for the Federal Republic of Germany

In recent years many studies of unemployment and health haveshown that unemployed persons are in poorer health. However,one question remained unanswered: is the poorer health of theunemployed caused by unemployment Itself (causation hypotheses)or is it a result of selection processes, whereby people inpoor health are more likely to lose their job and less likelyto be re-employed (selection hypothesis)? Findings from a studybased on the longitudinal data of the German Socio-economicPanel (1984–1988, N=5, 516 persons, 18–64 years)are presented. All health indicators (health satisfaction, chronicillness, handicaps in fulfilling daily life tasks, disability)showed poorer outcomes for the unemployed persons, even aftercontrolling for the possible confounding effects of sodo-demographicvariables. Unemployed persons also consulted a physician morefrequently and were hospitalized more often. But longitudinalanalyses (of becoming unemployed and of re-employment) did notlend much support to the causation hypothesis. Instead, a constantlevel of health satisfaction for persons losing their job andfor the re-employed compared to their initial ratings supportedthe selection hypotheses. This means that in the Federal Republicof Germany persons in poorer health are more likely to losetheir jobs and persons in better health are more likely to bere-employed.     

特需医疗服务机构中护士工作满意度的调查分析

目的：了解目前从事特需医疗服务工作的护士对自身工作的满意程度及其影响因素，探讨提高护士工作积极性及护理管理效率的途径和方法，为护理人力资源的有效管理提供依据，方法：采用自行设计的问卷对61名相关的临床护士进行问卷调查。结果：被调查护士的工作满意度为中等水平，影响满意度的原因由强到弱依次为个人发展机会少、福利待遇低、工作负荷过重、专业交流机会少等。此外，针对特需医疗服务的特点，对如何提高该领域护士工作满意度提出了建议。     

武汉市武昌区精神发育迟滞卫生服务调查

目的 了解武汉市武昌区精神发育迟滞的卫生服务利用和需求以及满意度。方法 对108例一胎精神发育迟滞与正常儿童进行1：1对照入户调查。结果 就诊医院以附属医院和省级医院为主；就诊科别集中在儿科。最需要的服务机构是专科门诊、特殊教育学校。遗传咨询比例约50％。自费比例为37．96％，没有医疗保险。对医院满意度调查中一般57．41％，不满意26．85％，很满意15．74％。结论 有必要对高危人群宣传遗传咨询。要加强专科门诊建设和特殊教育发展规划，并从社会保险、医疗保险和商业保险以及社会救助中重视这一以前忽略的领域。     

Predictors of Maternal Responsiveness

PURPOSE: To explore maternal responsiveness in the first 2 to 4 months after delivery and to evaluate potential predictors of maternal responsiveness, including infant feeding, maternal characteristics, and demographic factors such as age, socioeconomic status, and educational level. DESIGN AND METHODS: A cross-sectional survey design was used to assess the variables of maternal responsiveness, feeding patterns, and maternal characteristics in a convenience sample of 177 mothers in the first 2 to 4 months after delivery. The 60-item self-report instrument included scales to measure maternal responsiveness, self-esteem, and satisfaction with life as well as infant feeding questions and sociodemographic items. An online data-collection strategy was used, resulting in participants from 41 U.S. states. FINDINGS: Multiple regression analysis showed that satisfaction with life, self-esteem, and number of children, but not breastfeeding, explained a significant portion of the variance in self-reported maternal responsiveness scores. In this analysis, sociodemographic variables such as age, education, income, and work status showed little or no relationship to maternal responsiveness scores. CONCLUSIONS: This study provides additional information about patterns of maternal behavior in the transition to motherhood and some of the variables that influence that transition. Satisfaction with life was a new predictor of maternal responsiveness. However, with only 15% of the variance explained by the predictors in this study, a large portion of the variance in maternal responsiveness remains unexplained. Further research in this area is needed.     

Does the health status of chronically ill patients predict their judgements of the quality of general practice care?

Patients' health status as well as patients' judgements of care are used for assessing patients' perspectives, but the relation between those two concepts is unclear. In this study we explored whether health status predicts patients' judgements of the quality of general practice care. Hand-distributed and mailed surveys were performed by 28 general practitioners in The Netherlands. Chronically ill patients were approached when visiting the general practice or drawn from the practice registers. Health status was measured by WONCA/COOP charts, and patients' judgements by the CEP, a previously validated questionnaire. The response rate was 63% (n=762). When controlled for other patient characteristics, a poor overall health predicted less positive judgements of medical care, information, counselling, relation and communication, continuity of care and the organization of appointments (p[lessthan]0.01). Poor mental well-being predicted less positive judgements of the cooperation between care providers and a stronger need for more care (p[lessthan]0.001). The four other aspects of health status did not predict the patients' judgements. Judgements about the premises and the availability for emergencies were not predicted by health status. It can be concluded that a multidimensional approach should be used for interpreting the relations between patients' health status and their judgements of general practice care.     

Midwives' practices and beliefs about discharging clients from their practice

Discharging a client from a practice is a choice clinicians may need to make when conflicts arise that cannot be resolved. The legal and ethical considerations before discharging a client are presented. This preliminary survey of 111 certified nurse-midwives was conducted to determine their practices and beliefs about discharging clients. Most (83.7%) participants had discharged five or fewer clients from their practice throughout their careers, including 36.9% who had never discharged a client from their practice. In contrast, 77.5% of participants said that midwives should definitely discharge clients from their practice under some circumstances. Antepartum care was the most frequent period during which clients were discharged, and 59% of those discharged were for noncompliance with the therapeutic regimen, obnoxious or abusive behavior as subjectively identified by the midwife and her colleagues, or failure to keep appointments. When asked why they might not discharge a client from their practice, 60% identified empathy or sympathy for the client as the reason. When asked why they did not discharge clients in the past, 23 (21%) respondents selected "colleagues disagreed" as the reason.