Abstract:

The present study was carried out in order to reveal the effect of communication established with patients and their relatives in the health facilities on the patient satisfaction. In recent years, patient satisfaction has been one of the major issues on which excessive emphasis is put. This is because of the fact that there is a relation between patient satisfaction and preferability of healthcare facilities. When the relevant literature is examined, numerous factors (medical services, physical infrastructure, patient waiting time etc.) affecting patient satisfaction have been addressed. However, there are a limited number of studies examining the relation between communication with patients and patient satisfaction. On the other hand, it is possible that type of communication of healthcare professionals affects patient satisfaction. In this context, the present study aimed at filling a gap in the literature. Theoretical framework of the study was obtained through the review of the literature while field research was conducted through face-to-face interviews with a total of 153 inpatients in state, private and university hospitals located in Mersin. Data were analyzed via SPSS program. At the end of the research, it was concluded that increasing level of communication with patients increase patient satisfaction. It was also found out that private hospital has higher rates than the state and university hospitals in terms of communication with patients and patient satisfaction and communication and satisfaction levels do not differ by the education levels of the patients

Keywords: