Patient Satisfaction and Physician Empathy at a Hellenic Air Force Health Service.

INTRODUCTION: Patient satisfaction and physician empathy are important indicators of health care services quality. The purpose of this study is to investigate the factors related to the health care users' perception about physician empathy and their satisfaction with the services offered by the Medical Department of a Hellenic Air Force Combat Wing Health Service. MATERIALS AND METHODS: One hundred and twenty six individuals who randomly visited the Medical Department from January to February 2019 participated in the survey. The "Measuring the satisfaction of visitors to hospital outpatient clinics" questionnaire by Aletras et al. and the Greek version of the "Jefferson Scale of Patient Perceptions of Physician Empathy" questionnaire were used for data collection. RESULTS: High satisfaction scores were found in relation to the medical staff (mean 20.45, max 25), the examination room (mean 18.23, max 25), the nursing staff/secretarial support (mean 16.93, max 25), and the overall satisfaction (mean 17.15, max 25). The satisfaction score related to the infirmary was low (mean score 8.8, max 25). Physician empathy score was extremely high (mean 21.2, max 25). Statistically significant correlations were detected between physician empathy satisfaction score and the medical staff, nursing staff/secretarial support, and the overall satisfaction scores (P < .001). CONCLUSION: Health care users reported high physician empathy and overall satisfaction scores but low infirmary satisfaction scores. The more positively that patients evaluated physician empathy, the more satisfaction that patients had with other measures.

Assessment of Unmet Supportive Care Needs in Haematological Cancer Survivors

Background: Health needs assessment is crucial for the provision of individualized nursing care. However, many patients report a significant number of unmet needs. The aim of the present study was the assessment of self-reported unmet supportive care needs among haematological cancer survivors in Greece. Methods: 102 patients (mean age 66.2 years old) diagnosed with haematological cancer were included in a cross-sectional study, conducted in two major Greek public hospitals, between October and December 2016. Patients' needs were assessed using the 'Needs Evaluation Questionnaire' (NEQ). Data analysis was conducted using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences software for Windows. Alfa-level (p-value) selected was 5%, bootstrap techniques were used for 95% CI estimation, χ2 was used for differentiation control and Kuder-Richardson coefficient for reliability score assessment (ρ = 0.922). Results: Patients reported higher needs levels "to receive less commiseration from other people" (48%), "more information about my future condition" (44.1%) and "to feel more useful within my family" (42.2%). In contrast, patients reported lower levels to the needs "to speak with a spiritual advisor" (11.8%), "to have more help with eating, dressing and going to the bathroom" (13.7%) and "better attention from nurses" (18.6%). The mean score of satisfied patients (≥8/10) was 8.9 (SD 1.7). Associations between socio-demographic, hospitalization data and unmet needs groups were identified. The less satisfied patients (<8/10) reported more informational needs about their diagnosis and their future condition (p-value=0.002), about their exams and treatments (p-value=0.001), communicative (p-value <0.001), assistance and treatment (p-value<0.001) and hospital infrastructure (p-value <0.001). Conclusion: Various factors seem to be associated to the prevalent unmet care needs among haematological cancer patients. Establishing NEQ as a routine needs assessment tool could aid health professionals to early identify patients' needs in a busy clinical setting and implement more individualized and patient-centered quality care.