Abstract
The study addresses the following two questions: 1) Do the patients and staff at psychiatric hospitals hold similar or divergent views with regard to what is good care? 2) Does gender influence how patients and staff at psychiatric hospitals rank the importance of what is good care? The study was carried out by a survey design. Four hospitals in western Norway with a total of 65 patients and 79 staff took part. A revised version of the Care Q instrument was used.
The results show that both groups rank human interaction between patients and staff as the most important care procedure. Physical nursing and monitoring functions were considered the least important care procedures by both groups. The results also show a statistically significant difference between patients and staff with regard to 15 out of 50 individual statements. As an example the statement «is honest about your mental problems», and «gets to know the patient as an individual person» was ranked as much more important by patients than by staff. The study also indicates that the gender of patients and staff may influence how they rank the importance of care procedures.