Nurse Caring Behaviors and Patient Satisfaction in a Tertiary Care Hospital, The United Republic of Tanzania

Abstract

Patient satisfaction is important to improve the quality of nursing care. Studies indicated that nurse caring behaviors influence patient satisfaction. This descriptive correlation study aimed to describe nurse caring behaviors and patient satisfaction, and to explore the relationship between nurse caring behaviors and patient satisfaction. The sample consisted of 468 patients admitted to a tertiary care hospital, the United Republic of Tanzania. The research instruments were the Demographic Data Form, the Caring Behaviors Inventory (CBI) and the Patient Satisfaction Instrument (PSI). The reliability of the CBI and the PSI were .90 and .80 respectively. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and Pearson’s Product-Moment correlation coefficient.

The results of this study indicated that:

1. The overall mean score of nurse caring behaviors as perceived by the patients was at a moderate level. 2. The overall mean score of patient satisfaction was at a moderate level. 3. There was a statistically significant moderate positive relationship between nurse caring behaviors and patient satisfaction. The results of this study could be used by hospitals and nurse administrators of a tertiary care hospital in developing strategies to improve nurse caring behaviors, thereby, patient satisfaction would be increased.