ASSESSING NURSING SERVICE QUALITY: A CROSS-CULTURAL
COMPARISON BETWEEN BRAZIL AND THE UNITED STATES
This study measured and compared the perceived quality of delivered nursing services in hospital settings in Brazil and the United States. Within the context of this study purpose, four research hypotheses were tested.
The hypothesis that patient perceptions of the quality level of nursing services will be higher in the United States than in Brazil was rejected. The hypothesis that provider perceptions of the quality level of nursing services will be higher in the United States than in Brazil was accepted. The hypothesis that patient perceptions of the quality level of nursing services will be lower than provider perceptions of these services in the United States was rejected. The hypothesis held that patient perceptions of the quality level of nursing services will be higher than provider perceptions of these services in Brazil was accepted.
The preceding findings suggest that either American hospitals are understaffed in relation to Brazilian hospitals, or that American nurses are not as caring as are Brazilian nurses. Neither alternative is comforting. The findings also suggest that, as a group, American nurses are likely better trained than are Brazilian nurses, but that American nurses are required to perform administrative tasks to an extent that detracts from their ability to attend to patient needs.
A conclusion was drawn that under staffing and the assignment of excessive administrative tasks to American nurses are impinging upon the quality of nursing care delivered in American hospitals. It was that American hospital administrations and American nurses (1) lobby for the inclusion in any health care reform law of support for increased nursing staffs, and (2) support meaningful health care reform legislation.
The development and maintenance of output quality within any field of endeavor involves elemen...