Patient Satisfaction

Patients Satisfaction
Student’s Name
University Affiliation
How Patient Satisfaction Impacts Healthcare and Nursing practices, Nursing Leadership, and Nursing Education
Introduction
Patient satisfaction entails handling the patients and their families with care, respect empathy, and compassion (Prakash, 2013). As such, patient satisfaction goes beyond the normal clinical care patients receive in hospitals, dispensaries, and other health care centers to incorporate the patients and their family psychological needs. Patients prefer hospitals with the highest levels of patient satisfaction even if those hospitals are expensive. This is because patient satisfaction affects their recovery process. Secondly, patient satisfaction energizes the family members by giving them hope and direction on how to cater for their patient. This paper evaluates how patient satisfaction impacts health care and the nursing practice.
Patient Retention
Patient satisfaction is the main determinant in the assessment of the patient retention. Patients are increasingly looking for hospitals with high levels of patient satisfaction since, the satisfaction they receive matches the costs (Prakash, 2013). Additionally, the satisfaction affects their recovery process. Therefore, the management of hospitals have realized the impact of patient satisfaction and are now using it in marketing their hospitals and dispensaries. In doing so, nurses are required to engage the patients and their families often by designing an integrated, effective patient communication plan.

Additionally, hospital management should ensure that there are adequate nurses and staff to effectively take care of the patients, since the more satisfied a client is, the less likely for a client to seek medication in a different health center.
Reduction of Medical Malpractice Claims
The patient satisfaction in health care minimizes cases of medical malpractices as often reported by patients. Medical malpractice entails mishandling the client (patients) and any acts of negligence that threaten their overall health. Medical malpractices aggravate diseases and disorder and in the worst cases cause death. Patient satisfaction reduces cases of medical malpractice, since the patient, his or her family, and the nurse exhibit a near perfect relationship (Kravitz, 2014). The improved communication tactics, serene environment, and friendly staff boost the confidence of the clients and consequently engages them regularly regarding his or her health condition.
Conclusion
Patient satisfaction is an important indicator in the assessment of the quality of health care in hospitals and dispensaries. As such, patient satisfaction is crucial to all health providers in marketing their entities through patient retention, reducing medical errors, and crafting a patient-centered delivery of quality health care.
References
Prakash, B. (2013). “Patient Satisfaction.” 3(3). Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3047732/Kravitz, R. (2014). “Patient Satisfaction with health care.” 13(4). Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1496942/