Patient satisfaction with a nurse practitioner in a university emergency service

Ann Emerg Med. 1995 Aug;26(2):130-2. doi: 10.1016/s0196-0644(95)70141-9.

Abstract

Study objective: To compare the overall satisfaction with emergency department care of patients seen by a nurse practitioner (NP) with that of patients seen in the usual fashion.

Design: A case-control study comparing responses by means of a five-point scale from a prospectively designed telephone survey.

Setting: Midwestern urban university hospital ED in which most patients are seen mainly by fourth-year medical students or house staff and all patients are seen and evaluated by the attending staff.

Participants: Patients or, for children and incompetent adults, the person who accompanied the patient to the ED.

Results: Overall satisfaction was good for both groups of patients and was not significantly different: 3.9 (SD, 1.1) for the NP group versus 4.0 (SD, 1.3) for the control group (P = .66 [NS]).

Conclusions: This study supports data from earlier studies suggesting that patients are satisfied with ambulatory care delivered by NPs.

MeSH terms

  • Case-Control Studies
  • Emergency Medical Services*
  • Emergency Service, Hospital
  • Female
  • Hospitals, University
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Nebraska
  • Nurse Practitioners*
  • Patient Acceptance of Health Care
  • Patient Satisfaction*
  • Prospective Studies