Village Hotel Changi, Singapore
5th Edition of World Nursing Research Conference 2026
Speakers - WNRC2026
Michelle Hope Dowey
- Designation: Anglia Ruskin University, United Kingdom
- Country: United Kingdom
- Title: Insights of How Patients Determine the Quality of Their Care in A Ward Setting
Abstract
What was investigated and why?
In the National Health Service (NHS) in the UK there have been high profile failings in quality care such as the Mid-Staffs scandal resulted in the Francis Inquiry (2013) demonstrating that quality has a role to play. Quality is often measured using objective outcome measures which have been defined by the healthcare professionals, this identified a gap in what quality means to patients. This research aimed to fill this gap by using a qualitative approach to understand quality from the patients’ perspective.
The research question is: How do patients determine the quality of their care?
The objectives are:
• To gain insight into factors that patients consider as important in their care in a ward setting
• To explore factors that influence the patients’ perspective of quality
How the topic was investigated
An Instrumental multiple case study (Stake, 2006) was the methodology used in this qualitative research to allow an in-depth exploration of the factors which patients determine as contributing to the quality of their care. Using multiple forms of data, a three-phase approach was used: phase 1- documentary review, phase 2 interviews, phase 3 methodological triangulation.
What was found?
The factors which the participants identified as important in determining the quality of their care offer a novel insight into understanding the phenomenon of quality. A conceptual model was developed to capture both the objective and subjective measures of quality in healthcare. There are 21 key factors identified in the Hope model of quality alongside the internal and external assessors of quality used in the NHS in England.
What conclusions were drawn from the evidence?
This case study offers new and significant knowledge, firstly, the insight into factors that patients consider as important in their care in a ward setting. The findings identified 21 factors including the identification of a new theme which is not captured in the definition of quality. Secondly, the factors that influence the patients’ perspective of quality are determined in part through observing how other patients are treated and how staff treat each other. Finally, the use of a thematic framework supported by emojis is a novel approach to capturing the subjective measurements of quality.
The 5th Edition of the World Nursing Research Conference (WNRC) 2026 will ...
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