A DESCRIPTIVE, CORRELATIONAL STUDY OF PATIENT SATISFACTION, PROVIDER SATISFACTION, AND PROVIDER WORKLOAD AT AN ARMY MEDICAL-CENTER

Strong national interest in health care delivery systems and a highly competitive marketplace have mandated that military hospital commander s be increasingly aware of organizational performance. Historically, o ne variable that has been used to assess such performance is patient s atisfaction with the care received. The purpose of this study was to m easure patient satisfaction at a major military medical center and to assess how patient satisfaction correlated with the variables of provi der satisfaction and nurse/patient ratio. One hundred eighty-eight pat ients completed the LaMonica-Oberst Patient Satisfaction Scale. Data a nalysis revealed that, although overall patient satisfaction was high, it was significantly higher on the intensive care units and in other areas where the nurse/patient ratio was high. Interestingly, there was no correlation between the staffs perceptions of their work environme nt and patient satisfaction. Findings from this study serve to highlig ht the continued need for a low nurse/patient ratio and are suggestive of the need for refinement of patient satisfaction survey tools avail able at present.