ABSTRACT
Background: The cultural norms of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia do not encourage men to choose nursing as a career. Understanding male nursing students' experiences of their clinical exposure to the nursing profession throughout their internship might increase their retention. This study explored the experiences of final-year male nursing students as they transitioned to the role of registered nurse. Methods: A qualitative descriptive research design with an inductive content-analysis approach was used. The experiences of 22 final-year male nursing students from three public hospitals in a major city of Saudi Arabia were explored. The data were collected using focus-group interviews and documentary analysis in March 2015 and May 2015. Results: Content analysis revealed three major themes: the societal and cultural image of male nurses, male students' engagement in nursing practice, and restructuring the internship programmes' policies to suit male students' needs. Conclusion: The findings reveal issues that mainly stem from negative social views of nursing as a male profession. Considering the students' social and cultural needs during their internship programme will facilitate their transition into the role of registered nurse and their retention in the nursing profession.
ABSTRACT
Objectives: To investigate patients' satisfaction with nursing care by measuring the gap between patients' expectations of care and perceptions of the actual care provided and to identify the areas of nursing care that need improvement
Subjects and Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted among patients who were admitted to the Departments of Medicine and Surgery at King Saud Medical City, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. A modified Service Quality [SERVQUAL] instrument was adapted to collect information from a convenience sample of 432 patients from November 25, 2012, to February 3, 2013. The instrument comprised 22 pairs of questions assessing 5 dimensions of the nursing care provided to patients during hospitalizations. The mean patient expectations and perceptions as well as the gap score values for each dimension of nursing service were tested for differences between the mean scores of the sample at a level of significance of 0.05 using a t test
Results: The gap score for all of the 5 dimensions of nursing services were: responsiveness, -1.71; reliability, -1.48; tangibles, -1.36; assurance, -1.26, and empathy, -0.96. Service quality across the dimensions of responsiveness and reliability was statistically significant [p < 0.05]. This result indicated that patients were not satisfied with the nursing service quality in relation to all dimensions
Conclusion: Our study showed negative gaps for the 5 nursing service quality dimensions evaluated. This could provide nurses with information about the aspects of nursing care that promote more positive patient outcomes and satisfaction