What kind of care do hospital patients want?
Forget tasty food, talented phlebotomists, and speedy admissions. The real issue affecting a patient’s impression of a hospital is staff empathy.
They want staff to treat them with respect, acknowledge the stress caused by their health problems and hospitalization, and keep them informed about their care.
This revelation is based on a survey conducted by Press, Ganey Associates of South Bend, IN. Press, Ganey surveyed 1,007,612 patients at 545 hospitals between December 1995 and November 1996, questioning them about the issues that affect their overall satisfaction with a hospital and their likelihood of recommending it to others.
"The results clearly and emphatically show that interpersonal issues such as attitude, interactive skills, and caring behavior dominate the factors most closely associated with patient satisfaction," says Rodney F. Ganey, PhD, co-director of Press, Ganey. (See chart, below.)
He explains, for example, that nurse friendliness while listed in the top 10, nevertheless falls below other nursing issues such as taking the patient seriously, attention to personal needs and sensitivity to their personal stresses caused by being sick and hospitalized. "This suggests that the rather simplistic notion of smile at the patient and be nice’ isn’t sufficient. Patients want and demand more."
Ganey says many hospitals continue to ignore the importance of interpersonal issues in hospital care.
"Despite data that consistently show hotel services’ such as quality of food, room temperature and noise level among the least correlated issues, we continue to observe providers focusing on amenities," Ganey explains. "Perhaps this is because managers view changing the noise level and the food quality as easier fixes than asking employees to be more empathetic."
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