Study On The Evaluation Of The Internal Service Quality Of A Hospital In Shandong Province By Nurses In The Ward

BackgroundNurses are the backbone of the health system and the main force in deepening reform of the medical and health care system,improving medical care,and benefiting the masses.However,according to the report "The State of World Nursing in 2020",the current total number of nurses is insufficient and the load is large,which leads to the decrease of work enthusiasm.Therefore,hospitals are urgently required to continuously improve the internal management efficiency of nurses to increase their work input.The research shows that internal service quality management is the reflection of the efficiency of internal management,which is conducive to improving the work enthusiasm of nurses(internal customers).It can not only objectively measure the current situation of nurses’ job satisfaction,but also better predict their work performance.Therefore,it is of great guiding significance to understand the status quo of hospital internal service quality evaluation by ward nurses and find out the problems to improve the efficiency of hospital internal management.ObjectiveBased on the quantitative and qualitative data,this article analyzes the current problems and possible impacts in the internal management of W Hospital for the nurses by investigating the evaluation of the expected and perceived value of the internal service quality of W Hospital by nurses,combining the gaps between the two,and based on quantitative and qualitative data,put forward suggestions for the hospital to further optimize internal service quality management and improve the work experience of nurses in the ward.MethodsThe internal service quality of 415 ward nurses in a hospital in Shandong province was evaluated by using internal service quality scale and self-made questionnaire.Semi-structured interviews were conducted with a total of 17 nursing managers and clinical ward nurses based on the interview outline.The data was entered and analyzed using Execel and SPSS22.0,including descriptive analysis,single factor analysis,and multivariate analysis;Qualitative interview data were analyzed using Nvivo and thematic frame method.Results(1)Nurses in the investigated wards had high expectation of internal service quality,with the expectation score of each dimension around 4.5 points.Among them,the expected value of team cooperation dimension was the highest,with 4.68 points,while the expected value of encouragement and praise dimension was the lowest,with 4.34 points.The results of multiple linear regression showed that nursing level,promotion and development opportunities,and humanistic care had statistical significance on the evaluation of internal service quality expectation.The higher the nursing level,the lower the expectation evaluation of internal service quality;The better the promotion and development opportunities and humanistic care experience,the higher the internal service quality expectation evaluation.(2)The perceived value of internal service quality of nurses in the investigated wards was slightly higher than the research results of other scholars,which was 4.24 points,but there was still room for improvement.Among them,the score of effective training was higher,and the score of encouragement and praise was the lowest,which was only 4.09.Multiple linear regression results show that promotion and development opportunities,salary and benefits,employment forms,humanistic care and average monthly income have statistical significance on the perceived evaluation of internal service quality.The higher the average monthly income,the lower the perceived evaluation of internal service quality;The better the promotion and development opportunities,salary and benefit package,employment form and humanistic care experience,the higher the perceived evaluation of internal service quality.(3)There is a gap in the evaluation of the expected and perceived value of the hospital’s internal service quality by the nurses in the survey ward,and the gap is statistically significant.Among them,tools,teamwork and management support are the three dimensions with the biggest gap.The multi-factor regression results show that the atmosphere of focusing on medical care over nursing and the performance appraisal system are the main factors that affect the evaluation of the internal service quality of nurses in the ward.Conclusions and suggestionsIn this study,the internal service quality scale can be used to understand in detail the current situation of nurses’ evaluation on the internal service quality of the hospital from two perspectives:expectation and perception.The expectation of internal service quality of nurses in the investigation ward was at a high level,and there was a gap between expectation and perception.The results of comprehensive influencing factors analysis showed that nurses with higher nursing levels had higher expectations for internal service quality.The nurses’ perception evaluation and difference evaluation of internal service quality in the formal establishment ward were both low.In terms of personal needs and work experience,the better the promotion and development opportunities,humanistic care,salary and welfare,emphasis on medical care,and performance appraisal work experience,the higher the internal service quality evaluation.Based on the results of this study,the following suggestions are proposed:(1)Pay attention to the expectations and needs of nurses in the ward,and strengthen the guarantee of internal service quality;(2)Improve the level of hospital information,improve the infrastructure construction needed for nursing work;(3)Encourage the unity and cooperation of various departments to promote the deep integration of the internal organization of the hospital;(4)Strengthen the internal management support and establish the internal service awareness of"taking clinical as the core";(5)Improve the promotion and development environment of nurses and strengthen humanistic care in the hospital.