Nurses' job satisfaction and the quality of care received by patients in psychogeriatric wards

The methodology and part of the results of an in‐depth observational study of four psychogeriatric hospitals are described, focusing on the quality of care received by patients and how this was affected by the level of job satisfaction among nurses. In all four hospitals two wards were selected for intensive study over a period of 4–5 months each. Quality of care was studied through standardized recording of staff's feeding, toileting and bathing of a stratified sample of patients. The findings point to a very strong relationship between job satisfaction and quality of patient care. Staff and patients in high‐satisfaction (HS) wards proved more likely to initiate a conversation or other interaction. HS staff also offered patients more choice, independence, personal attention, supervision, information and privacy, and were more likely to converse with patients during feeding, toileting and bathing. Toileting and bathing appeared especially sensitive to these effects. Despite these differences, HS staff took no longer to feed, toilet or bathe their patients. These relationships are suggested to be mainly attributable to management practices, particularly at ward level, which influence both job satisfaction and quality of patient care.