The Relationship Between Nursing Quality and Patient Experience in Acute Care Settings

Objective: The aim of this study is to assess relationships between nursing quality measures and patient experience. Methods: This cross-sectional study examines a 2018 six-state sample of 620 acute care hospitals in the United States, to create a pre–COVID-19 pandemic baseline for the associations between nursing quality and patient experience. Variables include 4 nurse-sensitive quality outcome measures, nursing communication (a process measure), and patient experience scores. Results: Of the nurse sensitive quality indicators included, only central line–associated bloodstream infections were significantly (negatively) but weakly associated with overall hospital rating. Nursing communication was significantly (positively) and strongly correlated to overall hospital rating. Conclusions: Patient experience is a valuable measure of health care quality, and the intersection of nursing quality and patient experience requires further review. The nurse-sensitive quality outcome measures included in this study are not associated with patient experience scores. The significance of nursing communication, a process measure, suggests an opportunity exists to explore and quantify acute care nursing quality outside the traditional outcome metrics.