Patients' Perception of Missed Nursing Care in a Tertiary Hospital: A Cross-Sectional Study.
Afia Achiaa Sarpong, Amanda Towell-Barnard, Lucy Gent and 2 others
PMID 39951466WHAT IT FOUND
Hospitalised patients at a Western Australian tertiary hospital reported missed nursing care most often for mouth care, then walking and getting out of bed.
Older patients were more likely to report missed care.
Key findings
01Patients most often reported missed nursing care for mouth care (63%), ambulation (35%) and being helped out of bed (32%).
02Older patients aged 65 years and above were more likely to report missed nursing care after adjustment (p < 0.030).
03The most common patient-reported adverse event was intravenous infusion running into skin (9%), followed by fall, pressure ulcer and infusion running dry (6%).
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
Only 98 patients were studied, and the response rate was 49%, so the findings may not represent other hospitals or all inpatients. The study used a convenience sample from one tertiary hospital in Western Australia, limiting generalisability. Statistical power was 60%, below the commonly recommended 80%, so small but meaningful associations may have been missed. Patients and family members reported perceptions of missed care and adverse events, which can be under-reported, over-reported or affected by response bias. The study excluded intensive care, maternal care, mental health, coma, cognitive disorders and patients not proficient in English, so it does not speak to those groups. Adverse events were too few to analyse correlations with missed care. The gender association disappeared after adjustment, so it should not be treated as an independent finding.
Declared interests
The authors declare no conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read the 63% mouth care figure as a measured nursing failure rate. It is patients' perception from 98 people in one hospital, and the study does not show why care was missed or whether changes would reduce adverse events.