Difference in Emergency Department Patient Satisfaction When Treated by an Emergency Nurse Practitioner vs. Medical Doctors

Patient satisfaction is currently being used as an outcome measure of the quality of care. While there has been some literature published regarding patient satisfaction with nurse practitioners (NPs), especially in the outpatient setting, very little literature could be located on patient satisfaction with Emergency Nurse Practitioners (ENPs). This study attempted to answer the following research question: What is the difference in Emergency Department (ED) patient satisfaction when cared for by an ENP vs. Medical Doctors (MDs)? A descriptive study was used to identiiy the differences in ED patient satisfaction. It was conducted at a rural emergency department with a population of patients residing in Fayette and surrounding counties of Texas who presented to the ED. A convenience sample of patients was obtained. The inclusion criteria were patients who were at least 18 years of age, who were discharged to home from the ED, who could read and write English, and who could complete the survey without help from another person. Collection of data was accomplished through a 12 item patient satisfaction survey (PSS) developed by the investigator. The PSS asked patients to rate satisfaction by indicating the degree to which their expectations were met. Descriptive statistics were used to describe the demographic characteristics of the sample. Due to unequal sample sizes (ENP n = 26 , MD n = 12), Welch approximate t-test for independent samples was used to compare the ENP and MDs on their grand mean satisfaction score. There were no statistically significant differences between the ENP and MDs on the basis of the grand mean satisfaction score. A Mann-Whitney U test was used to compare the two groups on the basis of the patients' responses to individual satisfaction questions. This test found that there were no statistically significant differences in satisfaction scores be%veen the ENAir Force Inst of Tech Wright-Patterson AFB OH is the author of 'Difference in Emergency Department Patient Satisfaction When Treated by an Emergency Nurse Practitioner vs. Medical Doctors', published 1998 under ISBN 9781423561910 and ISBN 1423561910.