The relationship between staff nurses’ satisfaction with their schedule and patients’ satisfaction with quality of care

Introduction Nurse satisfaction and nurse scheduling are the major factors that improve quality of patient care. Long working hours contribute to poor patient outcomes, which affects patient satisfaction and quality of care. Aim The aim was to investigate the relationship between staff nurses’ satisfaction with their schedule and patients’ satisfaction with quality of care. Design A descriptive correlational design was used for this study. Participants and methods The study was conducted in 1-Day Surgeries Hospital, Nasr City, Cairo. Two samples were included in the study: convenient sample of nurses (36 nurses), and a random sample of patients (50 patients). Data were collected using two tools: a developed questionnaire about nurses’ satisfaction with their schedule and an adopted questionnaire about patients’ satisfaction with quality of care. Results The results revealed that the total mean percent of nurses satisfied with their schedule was 68.1%, which indicates moderate satisfaction. Moreover, the mean percent of total patients satisfied with the quality of care was 64.5%, which indicates moderate satisfaction. In addition, there was no statistically significant positive correlation (r=0.051, P=0.767) between patients’ satisfaction with quality of care and nurses’ satisfaction with their schedule. Conclusion Nurses were moderately satisfied with their schedule, and also, patients were moderately satisfied with quality of care. There was no statistically significant positive correlation between nurses’ satisfaction with their schedule and patients’ satisfaction with quality of care. Recommendations The authors recommend to increase staff participation in schedule and include preferences as a motivator to improve nurses’ morale and satisfaction; to include nurses, who work extended shifts, in health promotion and disease prevention programs; and to decrease weekly working hours with high working-time autonomy and workplace flexibility.