The Quality of Fundamental Care as Perceived by Nurses and Patients in a Hospital Setting: A Descriptive Comparative Study.
Hanna-Sisko Kaukkila, Laura-Maria Peltonen, Anna-Sofia Korteniemi and 4 others
PMID 40263644WHAT IT FOUND
Nurses self-rated hospital fundamental care slightly lower after a development project, with skin, elimination, nutrition and circulation areas falling.
Patients mostly reported good care, but wellness of mind, oral hygiene and personal hygiene were weakest.
Key findings
01Nurses' average rating of overall fundamental care fell from 8.94 in 2015 to 8.78 in 2021, a statistically significant decrease.
02Items nurses called 'not part of my work' rose by 28% from 2015 to 2021, and nurse managers reported more such items than practical nurses.
03Patients reported receiving guidance and assistance most often for nutrition (92.5%), skin condition and cleansing (85.7%) and pain (85.4%), while the least guidance was reported for wellness of mind (11.2%), oral hygiene (8.3%) and personal hygiene and professionals' aseptic behaviour (6.7%).
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
Single hospital, so the results may not apply to other settings. Nurses' response rates were low: 21.8% in 2015 and 19.4% in 2021. Only 274 patients responded, and the patient questionnaire had one item per area. The study measured perceptions, not objective patient outcomes or documented care. It cannot show whether the STEPPI project caused any change, because the pandemic, staffing shortages, turnover and a threatened strike also occurred. The nurse questionnaire was revised between 2015 and 2021 and needs further psychometric testing. Patient open-ended comments came from 129 responses, so they are descriptive.
Declared interests
The authors declared no conflicts of interest. The paper does not state who funded the study.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that the STEPPI project failed. The study compared nurses' self-ratings before and after, not patient outcomes, and it cannot separate the project's effect from pandemic workload, staffing shortages and turnover.