Patient Satisfaction with Nurse Practitioner Caring at Nurse-Managed Centers

The purpose of this investigation was to examine patient satisfaction with nurse practitioner care and caring at two selected rural nurse-managed healthcare centers in a mid-west county. This investigation was a partial replication of a study done by Bear and Bowers (1998). A descriptive convenience survey design was utilized that targeted subjects who were being cared for by a nurse practitioner at one of two healthcare centers included in this investigation. Watson's science of caring theory provided the theoretical framework for this investigation and fit well with the research questions. The Client Satisfaction Tool (CST) measured the degree of satisfaction for a convenience sample (N = 30, n = 15 each site, 100% rate of return) of patients. The findings indicated that patients strongly agreed or agreed to all of the statements on the CST, indicating a high level of patient satisfaction with nurse practitioner care. A one-way ANOVA indicated no statistically significant differences between the two sites by the probability of 0.2829 (p > .05) Moody's Demographic Information Sheet was used to identify information about the subjects which included gender, age, ethnicity, and whether subjects had ever been a patient at the healthcare center. The average subject was female, age 40 - 49 years, white, and an established patient. The demographic variables were not found to affect the level of patient satisfaction with nurse practitioner caring. However, because of the small sample size and location, the findings cannot be generalized to a larger population or to urban settings. Since findings from this investigation revealed that patients were very satisfied with the nurse practitioner care and caring received, it is believed that nurse practitioner rural advanced practice activities are supported. This investigation, along with other literature, documents a high patient satisfaction with nurse practitioner care and caring. Recommendations for future research include: replication of this investigation to include a larger sample and multiple sites and continuing to use Watson's science of caring theory; emphasis on appropriate caring behaviors toward patients in rural nurse practitioner education; and that nurse practitioners should continue to develop, emphasize and practice nurse caring behaviors. The relationship between nurse practitioner caring and patient satisfaction is meaningful and of value to both the patient and the nurse practitioner.