Experiences of inpatients and some influencing factors at the department of orthopedic surgery - burns, Can tho City General hospital in 2021

Abstract

Policy makers and health managers around the world are increasingly interested in collecting patients’ experience data to capture information and issues that need to be improved to enhance the services quality, compete and retain customers. This study was conducted to describe the current situation and determine some factors affecting the experiences of inpatients treated at the Department of Orthopedic Surgery - Burns, Can Tho City General Hospital in 2021. This was a cross-sectional study, using both quantitative and qualitative approaches. Quantitative data was collected on 300 inpatients at the Department of Orthopedic Surgery - Burns, Can Tho City General Hospital. Qualitative data were collected through four in-depth interviews with managers, one group discussion with doctors, one group discussion with nurses and two group discussions with inpatients. The study results showed that the average score of the overall assessment of the inpatients’ experience was relatively positive with 8.54 (SD = ± 1.16). Regarding the patient’s experience at the time of admission, the doctors’ criterion explained the reason for admission that had the highest positive experience rate of 90.7%. With respect to the patients’ experience on Facilities - Utilities, the criterion of Equipping hand sanitizer in the ward had the highest positive experience rate of 87.4%. The patients’ experiences in terms of the attitude of medical staff, this criterion was perceived with a relatively high rate from 65.7% or more. With the patients’ experiences with medical examination and treatment activities, the criterion that doctors informed and explained the reasons for performing procedures, surgery had the highest positive experience rate of 81.7%. Regarding the patients’ experiences with hospital fee payment, the criteria for supporting hospital fee payment for people with difcult circumstances had the lowest positive experience rate of 39%. Regarding the patients’ experiences before discharging from the hospital, 16.7% of patients reported that they have to wait for a long time to get discharge papers. 94.3% of the patients agreed that they plan to return to the hospital in the future if needed. Some factors affecting the patient’s experience can be divided into two groups: (1) positive effect factors: properly applying the medical examination and treatment procedures and regulations as prescribed by the Ministry of Health; reforming administrative procedures; having regulations and procedures to support patients with difcult; (2) negative effect factors: the long waiting time to perform the discharge procedure; the shortage of hospital beds. In conclusion, we proposed some recommendations: Develop a plan to adjust the process in order to reduce the waiting time for admission to the emergency department and the time to discharge from the hospital.