Implementation of Nurse Staffing Policy and Patient Experience Assessment: A National Cross-Sectional Study

South Korea's comprehensive nursing care service (CNCS) was introduced to alleviate caregiver burden and improve patient care.

The purpose of this study was to examine the association between the CNCS policy and patient experiences in South Korean hospitals.

This cross-sectional study was based on a secondary data analysis of data from the 2021 3rd patient experience assessment of 322 hospitals in South Korea. Multivariate regression was used to assess the relationship of interest while controlling for hospital characteristics.

Hospitals with 50%-100% CNCS beds had higher patient experience scores in nursing care (β = 1.39, p < 0.01), medication and treatment (β = 1.34, p < 0.05), hospital environment (β = 3.68, p < 0.01), and overall evaluation (β = 2.60, p < 0.01).

Hospitals with more CNCS beds and better nurse staffing levels were significantly associated with higher patient experience scores across multiple domains. This study reinforces the importance of the CNCS policy as a critical factor contributing to enhanced patient satisfaction.

Nurse managers and policymakers should expand the CNCS and ensure adequate nurse staffing, which are consistently associated with better patient experience across domains. Because hospital environment and nursing care showed the strongest associations, hospital administrators can use these domains to monitor CNCS effectiveness and guide resource allocation.