Background: Today, implementation of hourly bedside nursing rounds is an important component of evaluating the excellence of hospitals and it is one of the strategies to increase the quality of care. Nevertheless, there has been little emphasis on the implementation of hourly nursing rounds and limited evidence is available on its effect on patient satisfaction with nursing care in Ethiopia. Hence, the objective of this study was to determine the effect of hourly nursing rounds on patient satisfaction with nursing care.

Methods: A quasi-experimental nonequivalent groups study design was used to determine the effect of hourly nursing rounds on patient satisfaction with nursing care at Debre Markos Referral Hospital. A convenience sample of 104 hospitalized patients participated in this study (52 in control and 52 intervention group). The control group received the usual care in the selected units compared with the intervention group who received care with hourly nursing rounds. Patient satisfaction with nursing care scores was taken on the second and fifth days of hospitalization in both groups. Independent t-test was used to compare the statistical difference between the mean satisfaction scores of the two groups. A P-value of less than 0.05 was considered significant.

Results: The result of the t-test demonstrated that patients in the intervention group had a higher satisfaction score than patients in control group on the second days of hospitalization although it was not statistically significant(P=0.215). However, there was a significant difference in the mean satisfaction scores in the fifth days of hospitalization (from 71.02 + 14.37 in the control group to 79.69 + 12.21 in the intervention group, P=0.001).

Conclusion: This study revealed that patients in the intervention group have higher satisfaction scores than the control group, providing evidence that hourly nursing rounds improve patient satisfaction with nursing care and quality of care. Therefore, policymakers (FMoH) need to consider the implementation of consistent hourly nursing rounds in our hospitals to improve patient satisfaction and overall quality of care at large.

Trial registration ID: PACTR201907735468929

Keywords: Hourly nursing rounds, Nursing care, Patient satisfaction