Paediatric patient's and their caregivers' perceptions of hospital care

INTRODUCTION Caring for paediatric patients in hospital can be a challenge to many healthcare professionals. To help ensure that quality paediatric care is being delivered it is helpful to gain feedback about how paediatric patients and their caregivers perceive hospital care. Positive feedback can be used to reinforce good practice whilst negative feedback can be constructive and lead to quality improvement in aspects of care. METHOD This study analysed data from feedback forms completed by paediatric patients and their caregivers from the paediatric wards of two New Zealand regional hospitals. These were forms routinely collected in the hospitals during 2011 and 2012. The data consisted of positive, negative and neutral comments provided by paediatric patients and their caregivers following a stay in hospital, sharing their experiences of the quality of care. ANALYSIS Six themes emerged from the data. These were:1) satisfaction; 2) attributes; 3) communication; 4) patient care; 5) environment and 6) ‘Other’ issues. Further analysis separated each theme according to the staff group being discussed in the comments and further grouped into positive comments, negative comments or suggestions. The staff groups included Play specialists, the Paediatric group, Emergency Department staff, support staff and the ‘Other’ group, which included other healthcare workers. The data from both hospitals were analysed separately before being combined into one data set. RESULTS Feedback from paediatric patients and their caregivers at the two regional hospitals studied demonstrated overall satisfaction with their experiences of a child’s hospital admission. Positive aspects of the hospital experiences were raised, such as overall satisfaction with the care received, clear communication and the positive attributes observed in the staff. Despite the many positive comments, there were also a number of negative experiences expressed. The issues raised were related to unprofessional communication, standards of cleanliness, the ward environment and not meeting caregiver expectations. CONCLUSION This study identified that paediatric patients and their caregivers were generally satisfied with the care they received in the regional hospitals studied but there was room for improvement. Suggestions are made to improve the delivery of paediatric care relating to the paediatric ward and the ED. These include the recommendation that nurses caring for paediatric patients attend compulsory paediatric focused education. Further recommendations for the ED include the development of a paediatric team and the implementation of advanced paediatric nursing roles. These suggestions could lead to further improved hospital experiences for paediatric patients and their caregivers.

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Nursing

Level thesis:degree_level

Masters

Grantor

Eastern Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2014

Author dc:creator

• Beard, Georgie

• New Zealand
• paediatric patients
• care givers
• hospitals
• quality of care
• experience
• perceptions
• satisfaction
• feedback

Statement dc:rights

• All rights reserved

Language dc:language.iso

en

Handle dc:identifier.uri

https://hdl.handle.net/10652/6413

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:null:10652/6413