Abstract

The satisfaction of patients, as the recipients of healthcare services, is the best and most important indicator for measuring the quantity and quality of nursing services. The present study aimed to compare the quality of nursing services in a public hospital with that in a private hospital in Iran. This was a cross-sectional and descriptive-analytical study which was conducted in two public and private hospitals in Tehran from May 2015 to June 2015. A sample of 294 patients was selected using convenience sampling method. The required data were collected using a two-part questionnaire, including items to determine the studied patients' demographic characteristics and 19 items to assess patients' satisfaction with the nursing services. The collected data were analysed using SPSS 21.0. The results showed that in the public hospital, the highest and lowest means were, respectively, related to the nurses' skills and competence (4.35 +/- 0.65) and receiving your (patients') comments (3.29 +/- 0.72); conversely, in the private hospital, the highest and lowest ones were related to receiving your (patients') comments (2.56 +/- 0.79) and the nurses' skills and competence (1.38 +/- 0.50), respectively. Also, the indicators of nursing services quality had significant associations with the types of hospitals (P-value < 0.001). Providing continuous training courses on howto establish appropriate and proper interaction with the patients and paying attention to their comments at the time of receiving services for nurses working in the private sector as well as for nursing students at the nursing schools can be recommended for improving the patients' satisfaction.