Patient satisfaction with nursing care in Ethiopia: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Henok Mulugeta*¹, Getenet Dessie¹, Fasil Wagnew¹, Henok Biresaw²

Abstract

Background: Patient satisfaction is the most important indicator of quality healthcare service. Patient satisfaction with nursing care has been considered as the most important predictor of the overall patient satisfaction with hospital service. In Ethiopia, nurses comprise the majority of the healthcare force. However, the overall level of patient satisfaction with nursing at the country level remains unknown. Hence, the objective of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to estimate the pooled proportion of satisfied patients with nursing care in Ethiopia.

Methods: The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guideline was followed during this meta-analysis. Studies were accessed through an electronic web-based search strategy from PubMed, Cochrane Library, Google Scholar, and CINAHL by using combination search terms. Qualities of each article were assessed by using a modified version of the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale. All statistical analyses were done using STATA version 14 software. The pooled proportion of satisfied patient was presented in forest plots.

Results: A total of 15 studies with 6091 participants included in this meta-analysis. The overall estimated pooled level of patient satisfaction with nursing care in Ethiopia was 55.15% (95% CI (47.35, 62.95%)). Based on the subgroup analysis result the highest estimated level of patient satisfaction was observed in studies done in Addis Ababa (61.84% (95% CI: 44.49,79.2)). Patients who have one nurse in charge, with no history of previous hospitalization, living in the urban area, / and those who have no comorbid disease were more likely to be satisfied with nursing care than their counterparts.

Conclusion: This meta-analysis revealed that the overall level of patient satisfaction with nursing was relatively moderate. Therefore, the concerned body should give more emphasis to the quality of nursing care in order to increase patient satisfaction which is important to improve the overall quality of healthcare service.

Keywords: Nursing care, patient satisfaction, Ethiopia.