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Europa Medicophysica 2002 December;38(4):179-186

Copyright © 2002 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA

language: English

Nursing care in rehabilitation units: a new questionnaire to determine patient satisfaction

Ottonello M., Benevolo E., Zsirai E.

Salvatore Maugeri Foundation, Work and Rehabilitation Clinic, IRCCS, Genoa-Nervi Scientific Institute Genoa-Nervi, Genoa

Background. The study examines some psychometric properties of a new scale measuring patients’ satisfaction with nursing care during their stay in a rehabilitation unit. The questionnaire (SNQ-10) is self-administered and anonymous, and consists of 10 four-level items plus 3 open-ended questions. The construct validity of the 10 item section, the concurrent validity and some aspects of reliability were analysed.
Methods. The instrument was administered to 200 disabled patients admitted to a Centre for Rehabilitation following neurological or orthopaedic impairment.
Results. One-hundred and sixty-five questionnaires were returned, 163 of which could be analysed. The mean score was >3.3 for each item. Factor analysis showed the questionnaire to comprise one factor, which may be defined as “nursing care”. The answers to 2 open-ended questions (positive and negative aspects of treatment received) were found to be consistent with those to the 10 closed questions. Internal consistency among items was satisfactory (item-remainder correlations >0.5; Cronbach alpha >0.9). This suggests the scale is sufficiently unidimensional to permit cumulative summing of item scores. The high percentage agreement and the high test-retest reliability indexes (ICC and K) demonstrate score stability over two repeats. The SNQ-10 correlated well with another measure of patient satisfaction: the SAT-16 (for the factor “nursing care” and overall satisfaction regarding the hospital stay).
Conclusions. The SNQ-10 was found to be a valid instrument for use in clinical practice.