The effect of education-based empowerment program on nursing care quality in the dialysis ward

Background: Although nurses are legally and morally responsible for the quality of patient care, patients also have the right to receive high-quality and decent nursing care. Objectives: The purpose of this study is to determine the effect of education-based empowerment program on the nursing care quality in the dialysis ward. Methods: The present semi-experimental clinical trial study was performed as pre-test and post-test, before and after the intervention, in two stages. All hospitalized patients (150 subjects) in the dialysis center of Valiasr Hospital in Zanjan were enrolled by the census method. At the end of the study, the number of subjects was 125. Before the intervention, the SERVQUAL questionnaire was completed by the patients. Afterwards, nurse empowerment sessions were held. Finally, after the intervention, the SERVQUAL questionnaire was filled by the patients. To analyze the collected data, paired t-test, independent t-test, and variance analysis were performed using SPSS V22 software. Results: The findings of the study showed significant differences between the patients’ expectations and  perceptions of services, before and after intervention, in terms of tangibility, reliability, responsiveness, and overall dimensions (P<0.0001). Conclusion: The results of the present research indicated that education-based empowerment program affected nursing care quality in different dimensions. Hence, it is recommended paying more attention to education-based empowerment program to improve nursing care quality