Perception of Patients and Other Health Care Professionals about Nurses at the University College Hospital, Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria

Modupe O. Oyetunde; Ononaiwu M. Kelechi; Mary O. Oyediran

doi:10.4236/ojn.2014.413101

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Open Journal of Nursing > Vol.4 No.13, December 2014

Perception of Patients and Other Health Care Professionals about Nurses at the University College Hospital, Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria ()

Modupe O. Oyetunde^1*, Ononaiwu M. Kelechi¹, Mary O. Oyediran²

¹Department of Nursing, College of Medicine, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria.
²University College Hospital, Ibadan, Nigeria.

DOI: 10.4236/ojn.2014.413101 PDF HTML XML 3,373 Downloads 4,521 Views Citations

Abstract

Objective: To explore the perception of patients and other health care professionals about the attitude and behavior of nurses working at the University College Hospital Ibadan Oyo State. Background: Observation has shown that despite the efforts nurses put into carrying out their duties, the acknowledgement of a job well done from co-professionals and patients still leaves much to be desired. Could this be due to impressions formed about nurses? Hence, this study attempts to explore the perception of patients and other health care professionals about nurses. Methods: Two hundred (200) consented respondents were randomly selected for this study. This consists of 165 patients and 35 doctors representing other health care professionals. Data were collected through a pretested questionnaire. Analysis was done by using SPSS version 16.0. Result: Results showed that 68% of patients and 58% of doctors perceived that nurses were competent. About 75% of patients and 54% of doctors agreed that the nurses had adequate skills. Patients (70%) and doctors (49%) agreed that the nurses had a positive attitude towards work. About 74% of patients and 59% of doctors agreed to the fact that the nurses maintained a professional demeanor. Findings also showed that patients rated the nurses higher than the doctors did. A significant difference was found between the perception of patients and doctors about the communication skills of nurses (t = 2.423; df = 198; p = 0.016). Conclusion: The study shows relative satisfaction with the quality of nurse’s work, perceptions of people about their attitudes and behaviors. Nurses could improve on how they relate with other health care providers to achieve positive patient care outcomes.

Keywords

Perception, Nurses, Patients, Health Care Professionals, Nigeria

Share and Cite:

Oyetunde, M. , Kelechi, O. and Oyediran, M. (2014) Perception of Patients and Other Health Care Professionals about Nurses at the University College Hospital, Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria. Open Journal of Nursing, 4, 947-955. doi: 10.4236/ojn.2014.413101.

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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