Quality of Nursing Care: How It is Affected By Public Health Care Delivery Systems

Abstract

As a result of the increased emphasis placed upon the responsibility of nursing professionals for their practice, or professional nursing accountability, the need to monitor the quality of nursing care has become an issue of importance. According to Hegyvary and Haussmann (1976), while there has been investigation into the influence of a number of variables upon work performance, very little research has been undertaken into factors that specifically affect the quality of nursing care. These two authors studied 33 different variables that could affect the quality of nursing care. The unit organizational structure, or the system used to deliver nursing care, showed the greatest significance for influencing the quality of nursing care.