Nurses' and Patients' Perceptions of the Quality of Psychiatric Nursing Care in Jordan.

BACKGROUND

The quality of care provided for patients in mental health-care facilities remains a challenge for health-care providers in general and for nurses in particular. Identifying the level of quality of care provided for patients in mental health-care facilities as perceived by nurses and patients may help health-care providers improve the quality of care and improve patients' outcomes.

OBJECTIVES

The purpose of the study was to assess the perceptions of nurses and patients of the quality of nursing care, and explore the differences in their perceptions of quality of care in mental health-care facilities in Jordan.

METHODS

A cross-sectional study was conducted using two convenience samples of 123 nurses and 150 patients. The nurses completed the Karen-personnel instrument, a self-administered questionnaire; One hundred and fifty patients from several mental health-care facilities in Jordan were interviewed using the Karen-patient instrument. The interviews were structured.

RESULTS

Sixtyfour percent of nurses rated the quality of psychiatric nursing care as satisfactory, and 47.6% of patients perceived the quality of nursing care as satisfactory. Male nurses, who attended courses in mental health nursing, chose to work in a psychiatric unit, committed to work in the future in a psychiatric unit, and were providing indirect care have significantly higher perception of quality of psychiatric nursing care than their counterparts. Patients in military hospitals have significantly higher perception of quality of psychiatric nursing care than those in governmental ones (p < .05).

IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE

To improve the quality of care in psychiatric units, patients and nurses need to be educated about the quality indicators set by Joint Commission international standards related to mental health-care facilities.