Nurse caring in Iran and its relationship with patient satisfaction

Objective: The aim of this study was to determine the relationship between patients’ reports of nurse caring and patient satisfaction with nursing care. Design: The study used a cross sectional design. The Persian versions of the Revised Caring Behaviors Inventory (CBI) and the Patient Satisfaction Instrument (PSI) were used to establish the strength of association between nurse caring and patient satisfaction with nursing care. Data were analysed using SPSS version 10. Setting: The setting was the educational hospitals affiliated to Iran University of Medical Sciences (IUMS). Heavy workloads and severe staff shortages are common characteristics of Tehran educational hospitals and the time that nurses previously allotted to direct care has been reduced. Subjects: Two hundred and fifty patients who were hospitalised for medical conditions or surgical procedures were selected through a quota sampling method during 2007. Results: The findings indicated a statistically significant relationships between patient reports of nurse caring and satisfaction with nursing care (r=0.72, p=0.000; CI 95%; 178.31‑189.99 for the CBI and 82.81‑86.71 for the PSI). Male patients were more satisfied with nursing care than female patients. Admissions to hospital during the last five years were positively correlated with patients’ perceptions of nurse caring and satisfaction with nursing care. Conclusion: This study which was carried out in Tehran, Iran supports earlier western evidence that nurse caring is associated with patient satisfaction with nursing care. It is important to reflect on the impact of the current health care environment and cultural religion of Iran on caring behaviors of nurses and patient satisfaction with nursing care. Heavy workloads and severe staff shortages are common characteristics of Tehran educational hospitals and the time that nurses previously allotted to direct care has been reduced which may contribute to changes in patients’ perceptions of nurse caring and satisfaction with nursing care possibly reducing the effects of nursing care services. Iranian nurse managers need to consider the religious and cultural barriers to nurse caring and recompense it by providing more human resources.