Evaluation of the opinion of users of primary health care about the role of nurses in health promotion

SUMMARY Vilnius University Faculty of Medicine Department of Nursing and Fundamentals of Internal Medicine Bachelor of Nursing Program EVALUATION OF THE OPINION OF USERS OF PRIMARY HEALTH CARE ABOUT THE ROLE OF NURSES IN HEALTH PROMOTION Nursing Bachelor's thesis The Author: student Evelina Kazarina, nursing bachelor program at Vilnius University Work Leader: Aldona Mikaliūkštienė, Dr. Lecturer, Vilnius University, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Nursing and Fundamentals of Internal Medicine 15 May 2017 Work size: 45 pages. Keywords: primary health care, health promotion, functions of a nurse. The aim of the thesis: to evaluate the opinion of primary health care patients on the importance of the role of nurses in health care process. Tasks of the thesis: 1. To assess patient opinions on the activities of nurses in terms of patient education and information process. 2. To identify and compare patient attitudes towards the services rendered by public health nurses at a primary health care facility. 3. To identify and assess factors that patients consider to be of importance for the quality of nursing service. Materials and methods. Questionnaire. The study was conducted in the Public Institution Lentvaris Outpatient Clinic and Public Institution Trakai Primary Health Care Centre. An online survey was also conducted; the respondents were divided into three groups: patients treated at (Public Institution Central Outpatient Clinic, PI Šeškinė Polyclinic and Public Institution Antakalnis Polyclinic). A total of 211 patients participated in the study. The study used the questionnaire generated by the authors. Data analysis was performed using statistical analysis SPSS Windows 17.0, Microsoft Office Excel 2006 and R Commander applications. Study results and conclusions: 1 During their visits to primary health care facilities, half of the surveyed patients always address nurses with their concerns (n = 106; 50.24 percent). The results show that most often the patients discuss nursing procedures with a nurse (85.05 percent; n=165). Much lower number of the respondents consult on nutrition (n = 55; 28.35 percent), discuss the benefits of physical activity (n = 58; 29.90 per cent) and bad habits (n = 53; 27.32 percent.). With nurses, men often discuss health condition (p = 0.025) as well as use of medicines and possible complications (p = 0.009). 2.The majority of both Vilnius City (86.49 percent; n = 64) and Trakai District (85.40 percent; n = 117) primary health care patients are satisfied with the work of nurses and agree that nursing professionals carry out their duties well and know their job. 133 (63.03 percent) patients who participated in the survey indicated that most often they were informed about health promotion and disease prevention. Vilnius primary health care nurses inform the patients on the preventive programmes more often (60.81 percent; n = 45) compared to the primary health care facilities in Trakai District (45.99 percent; n = 63). 139 (65.88 percent) of the respondents indicated good organisation and quality of nursing services. One-third (33.65 percent; n = 71) of the respondents provided an average rating for the said services, of which 28 (37.84 percent) were Vilnius District primary care patients and 43 (31.39 percent) were Trakai District primary care patients. 3. In the opinion of majority, the quality of nursing services is affected by the nurses’ expertise and skills, good nursing practices, nurse work planning and organisation, and teamwork. In the patients’ point of view, the quality of nursing services mainly depends on nice treatment, sensitivity and attentiveness of nurses to patients (p