High satisfaction levels
An overarching theme that remained consistent throughout
the reviewed literature was high levels of patient satisfaction.
Some authors contest that large numbers of respondents
are required to detect real statistical differences in
patient satisfaction surveys (Collins 1999), yet even when
this has been achieved, patient satisfaction remains consistently
high (Touche Ross 1994, Sakr et al. 1999). In the
UK-based RCT undertaken by Cooper et al. (2002), a convenience
sample of adult patients (n = 199) exhibited high
levels of patient satisfaction with the care provided by
ENPs. Such overall high levels of patient satisfaction with
ENP services are encouraging, yet to extract any real meaning
from these surveys, it is necessary to examine the components
of patient satisfaction. The concept of patient
satisfaction is subjective, intricate and composed of multiple
facets (Ryan & Rahman 2012). It could be argued that the
components with which patients are least satisfied could
provide specific evidence of issues for improvement of the
service.