Elements of patient satisfaction: An integrative review.
George W Goodrich, James Mark Lazenby
PMID 36306415WHAT IT FOUND
Communication with nurses and doctors, medication discussions, and being treated with courtesy were consistently linked to higher patient satisfaction.
However, findings on wait times, staffing, and patient demographics were often contradictory, leaving no single agreed definition of satisfaction.
Key findings
01Communication with nurses and doctors, and being treated with courtesy and respect were found to correlate with higher patient satisfaction.
02Findings on waiting times were inconsistent, with some studies linking shorter waits to higher satisfaction and others finding no relationship or a weak inverse one.
03The review identified 68 elements of patient satisfaction, but eight of these had contradictory results across studies, indicating no agreed-upon definition exists.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
Most included studies were cross-sectional, qualitative, or quasi-experimental, limiting causal conclusions. Psychiatric care was underrepresented, as many studies excluded psychiatric patients. Many included articles were from a medical or administrative perspective, not strictly nursing, so some identified elements may not reflect nursing work. The review relied on existing measures, most of which were marketing-based (HCAHPS, Press Ganey) rather than nursing-specific.
Declared interests
The authors declare no conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume that improving wait times or staffing ratios alone will increase patient satisfaction, as these factors showed inconsistent or null relationships in the reviewed studies. Focus instead on interpersonal elements like communication and respect, which were more consistently linked to satisfaction.