Satisfaction with nursing care provided to patients who have undergone surgery for neoplastic disease

Purpose: To investigate satisfaction of cancer patients, who have undergone cancer surgery, with nursing care and the association of patient satisfaction with demographic and clinical characteristics. Materials and methods: The study population consisted of 181 patients with cancer who have undergone surgery and were hospitalized in clinics of University General Hospital of Greece. The instrument used in the study was the «Measurement of patient satisfaction scale» (MPSS). The model of multiple linear regression was used with the method of backward stepwise linear regression. Results: The results of the study showed that patients were overall satisfied with nursing care. The areas they were less satisfied were «Resting time», «Information», «Education», «Personal preferences» and «opportunities for participation in care». The patient satisfaction had a statistically significant association with the following characteristics of the patients: (a) patient education, less educated patients showed higher levels of satisfaction (p<0.001) and (b) the hospitalization at the chemotherapy clinic, patients hospitalized at chemotherapy clinic showed higher levels of satisfaction than patients hospitalized in the other two clinics (p=0.002). Also, there was a statistically significant association between the patients education level and the item «I wish nurses have knowledge about alternative methods of dealing with some disease symptoms» (r=-0.22, p=0.003). Conclusions: The training of the nursing staff that work in clinics where patients with cancer are hospitalized, is necessary not only at a scientific level but also at a communication level. The satisfaction of surgical patients with cancer should be continually evaluated in order to assess patients’ needs, to improve poor or problematic aspects of care and to manage patients’ personalized and expressed needs.