The satisfaction levels of patients staying in emergency department of Ege University Medical Faculty Hospital

Abstract

Introduction: This study was carried out to evaluate the level of service and patient satisfaction in our unit which its physical structure was reconstructed and new working instructions were being started to be carried out in 1999.
Methods: This study was conducted between the dates of 01 January 2003 and 01 April 2003, with the patients stayed at least one day in the emergency department, who are over 18 years old, literate and who accepted the interview. A face to face interview consisted of 50 questions was carried out with the study patients after the discharge process was completed.
Results: During the study period a total of 343 patients were observed in emergency department. Of these 343 patients, 122 were included to the study. 62 patients were male (50%) and 60 were women (49.9%). Their mean age was 30.30 ± 10.22. When the overall levels of satisfaction for both genders were examined, a statistical difference was found. Among the women X was 4.13 ± 0.34 and among the males X was 3.92 ± 0.57 (p< 0.05). With the Variance analysis and Bonferroni test a significant difference was found between age groups in regards to level of satisfaction; the difference was found to be originated from the 18-26 age group (the youngest group, X=3.86 ± 0.5362) and 62 years of age or over (oldest group, X=4.41 ± 0,34) (p>0.05). There wasn’t any difference between patient marital status and income level for the level of satisfaction. It was seen that all the dimensions of service were effective in reaching satisfaction.
Conclusion: It was observed that 63.1% of the patients were satisfied from the services provided in the Emergency Department of Ege University Medical Faculty Hospital. One of the most important factors that affected the patient satisfaction positively was nursing services.