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. Two of the hypotheses involved direct comparisons of patient and provider perceptions between Brazilian and American samples, while the remaining two hypotheses involved comparisons between patient and provider perceptions within the Brazilian and American samples. Research results are presented within the context of each hypothesis.
Comparison of Patient Perceptions:
Hypothesis number one held that patient perceptions of the quality level of nursing services will be higher in the United States than in Brazil. The structure of the rating instruments completed by the patient and provider samples yielded results wherein lower scores indicated more positive perceptions of delivered nursing services, or a lower level of dissatisfaction. Therefore, for hypothesis number one to be accepted, two criteria were required to be met. First, the mean patient score of the quality level of nursing services delivered in Brazil was required to be higher that the mean patient score in the United States. Second, the variations between the weighted perceptions of the Brazilian and American patient samples were required to be statistically significant at p<.05. As the data presented in Table 1 indicate (the table may be found on the following page), the variations between the weighted perceptions of the Brazilian and American patient samples were statistically significant at p<.001 (F ratio = 49.938, degrees of freedom = 1, 92, critical value of F at p<.001 = 11.680). Thus, the first criterion for acceptance of the hypothesis was met. The mean weighted patient score in the United States, however, was 39.01, while the mean weighted patient score in Brazil was only 12.18. Thus, Brazilian patients were less critical of hospit...