Patient satisfaction with Nurse Practitioner care in primary care settings

Objective To determine the level of satisfaction with care and acceptance of the role of Nurse Practitioner in New Zealand. Design A descriptive correlational study was conducted using a 15 item satisfaction survey distributed to participants by the clinic receptionist after a clinic visit to the NP. Demographic data, reason for visit and waiting times were also collected. Setting Two clinical sites in the same medium sized city were used for data collection. The first site was a university campus health clinic and the second a primary health care clinic in an industrial area. Subjects Convenience sample of the first 100 patients to complete and return the self-administered survey from each practice site were to be included in the study. In fact 193 useable surveys were included. Outcome measures Patient satisfaction and acceptance was measured using modified 15 item version of the Thrasher and Purc-Stephenson (2008) satisfaction survey. Results Patients were satisfied with the care they received and had accepted the role. Mean satisfaction score was 15.59; SD 4.71, range 12-25. The lower the score the more satisfied the patient. Satisfaction was significantly correlated by only two variables, age (r=.221, p=.003) and role clarity (r=.355, p=.000). Conclusions While this study contained limitations, the overall positive findings are similar to previous study findings on patient satisfaction with Nurse Practitioners care. The instrument, methodology, and findings of this study can be used as initial data on the evaluation and continued monitoring of the role in New Zealand (NZ).