Paper
Saturday, November 3, 2007
80
Measuring Nurse Practitioner's Influence on Patient Trust: An Evidence-Based Outcome Investigation
Stephen J. Aragon, PhD, MHA, BS, School of Health Sciences- Department of Nursing, Winston-Salem State University, Winston-Salem, NC, USA and Sheigethia Edwards, MSN, BSN, The School of Health Sciences, Department of Nursing, Winston-Salem State University, Winston-Salem, NC, USA.
PURPOSE: The purposes of this investigation were first to measure the influence of nurse practitioners’ care behaviors on patients’ trust, ratings of care, and likelihood to recommend both the practitioner and practice, and secondly, to test the robustness of the effects across national random samples of pediatric and family practice patients.
METHODS: Employing a multigroup structural equation modeling design was used with cross-group equality constraints to test the invariance of effects across samples.
RESULTS: Models fit the data well, illuminating that nurse practitioners’ patient-centeredness significantly influenced overall patient patients’ trust, their ratings of care, and likelihood to recommend both the practitioner and practice. 77 percent of the variance patients’ likelihood to recommend the practice was explained by the model and 86 percent of the variability of patient trust. Effects held across the national random samples of pediatric and family practice patients.
DISCUSSION: Practitioners’ concern for patient’s questions and worries, efforts to include them in treatment decisions, and follow-up care instructions increased ratings of care and trust. The Primary Provider Theory offers a paradigm for measuring and improving overall patient trust, ratings of care, and the likelihood to recommend the practitioner and practice. The results of this investigation have implications for nurse practitioners, patient-centered care and satisfaction, patient-provider relationships, and education.