Health care Trust as Perceived by Patients and Its Relation to Unlicensed Assistive Personnel Role: A comparative study

: Trust in the healthcare system, is an important determinant of healthcare utilization, unlicensed personnel and registered nurses have provided hospital-based nursing care for decades. Although ineffective health care providers' role has been associated with poor patient outcomes, little is known of the perspectives of nursing assistive personnel (NAP) role. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to gain insights into the perceptions of NAP role and its relation to patients' health care trust. Method: Comparative, correlational design was conducted at inpatient units where the unlicensed assistive personnel (UAP) work at Menoufia University Hospital and National Liver Institute. Purposeful equal samples of (130) of unlicensed assistive personnel and (130) patients were recruited from previous mentioned hospitals. Data was collected by two instruments, unlicensed assistive personnel role observation checklist and health care trust questionnaire. Results: The highest percentage (90.77%) of assistive personnel in Menoufia university hospital and National liver institute (83.08 %) performed their roles improperly. Whereas, the majority (87.69%, 84.62%) of UAPs not performed their roles properly either under supervision or without supervision in both Menoufia university hospital and National liver institute (78.46%, 76.92%). Also, more than half (53.8) of patients in Menoufia hospital and (52.3%) in National liver institute reported that they were not sure that the unlicensed assistant personnel were technically competent. Moreover, (63.1%% and 53.84%) of patients in the two hospitals had a low trust level regarding the health care. Conclusion: It was concluded that there was a very highly statistically significance negative associations between improper role of unlicensed assistive personnel and health care trust. Recommendations: written job descriptions, and clear definition of roles of unlicensed assistive nursing personnel should be available; specific training program should be developed. Further research should be conducted to develop regulations for educational preparation, utilization of these providers besides the factors that contribute to patients feeling trust in the health care setting