Influence of length of stay on patient satisfaction with hospital care

Abstract

A cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted from 22nd February 2008 to 22nd March 2008 at Bhumibol Adulyadej Hospital, Bangkok, Thailand. The study was conducted in a hospital setting for the primary purpose of identifying patient satisfaction by different length of stay at a hospital. This study was analyzed using 228 subjects who consented to participate in the study. 23 nurses in the hospital provided the questionnaires in various departments on the day of discharge which included basic demographic information and their satisfaction with the facility, care and the communication skills of personal during their time as patients in the hospital. Even though the overall satisfaction was high among all 3 groups (group 1 = 95.83%, group 2 = 94.44%, group 3 = 95.31%) of length of stay, the results of the study illustrated that variables such as advice on illness, physicians’ responsiveness, physician’s attention to take care and physicians’ manner were less satisfied with longer length of stay patients compared to shorter length of stay patients. Whereas variables such as results of laboratory and x-ray, cleanliness of room, staffs coordination and cooperation and nurses manner were less satisfied with shorter length of stay patients compared to longer length of stay patients. I hope this information gathered from this study which were the “true voices” of the patients of the hospital be heard and met for improvements and better patient satisfaction which are influenced by different length of stay (LOS).