[Measuring patient satisfaction in an emergency unit of a Swiss university hospital: concept clarification and results (part 1)].

This article reports parts of a comprehensive study examining ambulatory patients' satisfaction with nursing care in a Swiss emergency department. Former studies have focused on patients discharged to hospital wards while nursing specific patient satisfaction results are missing. Patient satisfaction entails the following three dimensions: "Interaction/interpersonal dimension", "information/patient participation", and "nurses' knowledge". A descriptive cross-sectional study examined patient satisfaction using a revised version of the questionnaire "Patient satisfaction with nursing care" in a convenience sample of 114 patients. The instrument measures patient satisfaction by means of 37 items on a 5-point Likert-scale. As target values 85% of the maximum scores in each dimension were chosen as cut-off scores. Total scores and their means were computed for all dimensions of patient satisfaction and criterion validity was analyzed. Concurrently, the psychometric characteristics of the measurement instrument were tested. No patient achieved the maximum total score and the target values for "Interaction/interpersonal dimension", information/patient participation, and "nurses' knowledge" were not attained. The items "I had trust in the nurses" and "During conversation/while talking with nurses, no disturbing others were present" showed the highest scores in the "Interaction/interpersonal" dimension. The item "Nurses showed interest about what the illness means for my daily life" showed the lowest scores. In the dimensions "information/patient participation" and "nurses knowledge", patients missed nurses' caring for their psychological/emotional wellbeing, thirst, hunger and self-care deficits in bathing/hygiene. The overall results were not generally low, but demonstrate potential for quality enhancement. The measurement instrument showed good reliability (Cronbachs' alpha .83, .82, .70) and criterion validity was supported. Further results will be presented and discussed in part two of the study (Müller-Staub, Meer, Briner, Probst & Needham, 2008).