Nurses Awareness Regarding Some Quality Healthcare Concepts at University Students’ Hospital in Alexandria

Abstract

Nurses constitute a major bulk of health service manpower. Additionally, nursing care is a major determinant of successful health care delivery worldwide and identifying nurses' opinion and perceptions toward quality care program is crucial for successful implementation of such program. The aim of this study is to assess the nurses' knowledge and perceptions regarding some concepts of health care quality at Alexandria University Students Hospital. Cross-sectional descriptive study design was conducted in which self-administrated questionnaire was introduced to all nurses available in all shifts (310 nurses) at the selected hospital to assess their knowledge about quality activities in the study hospital and their perceptions regarding certain quality aspects. Results indicated that 57.1% of nurses were aware about the presence of the quality department in their hospital and only 27.1% of them were knowledgeable about the presence of quality standards in the hospital. The majority of nurses responded positively to statements of the suggestions for quality improvement and barriers that hinder the implementation of quality in health services. In relation to nurses' awareness regarding certain quality aspects, there was statistically insignificant increase in the percent frequencies for nurses attending training courses concerning both "quality concepts" items (77.4%) and "suggestions for quality improvement" items (86.8%). It was concluded that planning and implementation of continuous in-service quality training programs for nurses to improve their awareness and acceptance of quality of care are very critical for staff development. Also, designing organizational charts for quality department with name, authority and responsibilities is recommended together with, dissemination of mission, vision and objectives of quality department through the organization, so everyone become aware about them.