PATIENT SATISFACTION IN 2 DEPARTMENTS OF SURGERY IN A COMMUNITY-HOSPITAL

Patient satisfaction with medical and nursing care was evaluated in tw o surgical departments of a community teaching hospital in Petah Tikva (now called Rabin Medical Center, Golda Campus). The interview, condu cted before the patients were discharged, related to their perception of the preoperative period, the attitude of the personnel in the opera ting room before anesthesia was administered, and their satisfaction d uring the postoperative period. The questionnaire completed by the int erviewer included questions on the time that elapsed from admission to the first examination by a physician and a nurse, whether the patient received information about the operation and its possible complicatio ns, was examined by the anesthetists, received details regarding the r esults of the surgical procedure, and what his or her impression was o f the attitude of the nursing staff. The patients were asked to rate t heir evaluation on a scale from 1 to 10. The results showed high satis faction with the services provided and were similar for both departmen ts. The small number of patients whose satisfaction rated from 5 to 8 complained about the sanitary conditions in the toilets, the overcrowd ed departments, and the lack of sufficient number of registered nurses during the night shifts.