World Journal of Nursing Research

Investigation of Outpatient Satisfaction in a General Hospital: The Effect of Socio-Demographic Factors

Paraskevi Theofilou — Fri, 30 Sep 2022 00:00:00 +0000

Introduction: Measuring patient satisfaction with health services in recent decades has been an important tool for assessing the quality of specific services. Purpose: The investigation of the degree of satisfaction of patients attending the Regular Outpatient Clinics of a General Hospital as well as the effect of socio-demographic factors on their satisfaction. Method: For the gathering of research data, a structured questionnaire with "closed" questions was used regarding the patients' satisfaction with the reception - environment, speed of service, clinical and laboratory examinations, impressions from the medical care, impressions from the nursing care, the administrative services and the general service. Results: The study involved 36 men (57.1%) and 27 women (42.9%) with a mean age of 56.78 years. The majority of them were insured (79.4%), Greek citizens (90.5%) and high school graduates (36.5%). Also, most outpatients evaluated very satisfactorily the services provided by the Regular Outpatient Clinics of the Hospital. Finally, there was a statistically significant correlation between socio-demographic variables (age, insurance and nationality) and patient satisfaction level (p <0.05).Conclusions: Based on the findings of this research, there is a clear effect of socio-demographic factors on the degree of satisfaction of outpatients.

Perceptions of Nursing Personnel Regarding Challenges in Usage of PPE during COVID 19 Pandemic

Bindu S, Babu M, Remya N Nair — Sat, 15 Oct 2022 00:00:00 +0000

The rapid spread of COVID 19 outbreak has put a heavy burden on human society and is a great challenge for health care workers. The present study aims to assess the perceptions of nursing personnel regarding challenges in usage of PPE during COVID 19 pandemic and to find out the association between severity of physical symptoms and selected personal variables of nursing personnel. A quantitative approach with descriptive survey research design was used for the study. Web based self-administered questionnaire, rating scale and checklist were developed and distributed among study participants in the “Google forms”. A total of 134 participants were included in the study. Out of the 134 participants, 85(63.4%) nursing personnel were working in the government sector and 49(36.6%) of nursing personnel were working in the private sector. The top five challenges in the usage of PPE ranked based on self-reported data were; 1. difficulty to meet the basic needs such as food and fluids, 2. difficulty to meet elimination needs, 3. Unable to relax, 4. difficulty to meet hygienic needs and 5. disconnected with friends and family during working hours. Analysis of physical symptoms experienced by the nursing personnel showed that 41(30.6%) had mild symptoms, 54(40.3%) had moderate symptoms and 39(29.1%) had severe symptoms experienced owing to PPE usage. The most common physical symptoms reported by nurses were heat stress 124(92.5%), head ache 120(89.6%), exhaustion 117(87.3%) and dryness in throat (86.6%). There were no significant association between physical symptoms of nursing personnel and selected personal variables at 0.05 level of significance.

Comparison of Image Data and Visually Confirmed Sketches to Evaluate the Technique of Handwashing

Miho Yoshii, Kazushi Yamamoto, Riko Nezuka, Fumiya Kinoshita, Hideaki Touyama — Thu, 29 Sep 2022 00:00:00 +0000

Hand hygiene is crucial in preventing healthcare-associated infections. In this study, we aimed to quantify the accuracy of subjective evaluation of hand washing through visual inspection and objective evaluation through images. The participants were 24 consenting nursing students, and the study used black light and fluorescent paint to generate sketches and captured images of the unwashed areas, which were processed. Handwashing training was conducted once a week for four consecutive weeks. We collected data in the first and fourth training sessions. We found that the percentage of the unwashed palmar areas was significantly higher in the images than in the sketches (p<0.05). The percentage of the uncleaned area as recognized visually significantly increased for sketches (p=0.01) and decreased for images (p=0.009) in the fourth session. The difference between the percentages of the image and sketch area notably decreased in the fourth session (p=0.002). When we checked the recognition percentage of the unwashed area by dividing the right-hand palmar side into six areas, the fingertips had the highest percentage, and the ball of the thumb had the lowest percentage. The recognition of the unwashed areas was low when comparing the subjective visual assessment with the objective imagery assessment. In addition, the percentage of the unwashed areas decreased with repeated training, indicating a decrease in the difference between the subjective and objective ratings.