Abstract:
Background: Healthcare industry plays a major role in a country’s economy and the well being of citizens. This industry is ultimately driven by patient satisfaction, which is decided
upon the care received, especially that of the private sector hospitals as patients are expected to
pay for their care.
Objective: To identify the patient perception on quality of nursing care in medical wards of
private hospitals in Colombo District
Methods: A quantitative descriptive cross-sectional study design was used. Snowball sampling
technique was utilized for data collection. Questionnaire generated according to the
SERVQUAL (Service Quality) tool, under variables such as assurance, tangibility, empathy,
reliability and responsiveness. Questionnaires provided to the general public via google forms
and self-administered questionnaire (printed version). Sample was selected as those who had
prior experience of being hospitalized at a medical ward of a private hospitals in Colombo
district. Data analysis was performed using SPSS.
Results: A total of 397 participants were selected after screening as per inclusion and
exclusion criteria. On average 61.1% of the participants were not fully satisfied with the
quality of nursing care offered in Colombo private hospitals as per their perceptions. However,
98% of the participants were satisfied with the tangibility of nursing care. Furthermore, on
average, 52.4% were not fully satisfied with empathy of quality of nursing care when attending
medical wards in Colombo district private hospitals.
Conclusions: More than half of the participants were not fully satisfied with the quality of care
in medical wards of private hospitals in Colombo district. Contrarily, majority of the sample is
satisfied with the tangibility aspect of nursing care. Empathy variable has been satisfactory
only in the half of the participants.
