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

Abstract

Background South Korea’s comprehensive nursing care service (CNCS) was introduced to alleviate caregiver burden and improve patient care. Purpose The purpose of this study was to examine the association between the CNCS policy and patient experiences in South Korean hospitals. Methods 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. Results 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). Conclusion 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. Implications for Nursing Management 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.