Patients’ Expectations of Doctors and Nurses on Healthcare Delivery within Ibadan Metropolis

This study investigated hospital patients’ expectations of doctors and nurses in Ibadan. It adopted a descriptive survey research design. Five (5) research questions were raised and answered in the study. A total of 180 hospital patients randomly selected from six hospitals in Ibadan participated in the study. Participants responded to a researcher-developed instrument, titled the “Healthcare Expectations of Patients Assessment Scale – HEPAS” (r =0.95). The instrument was divided into six sections of A, B, C, D,E and F with a total of 50 items. Each item was assigned a value of 2: Agree; and 1: Disagree. Data were analysed using simple percentages. The results revealed that hospital patients expected doctors and nurses to be professionally competent before they attend to patients; that these hospital patients expected a lot of positive behavioural characteristics from the doctors and nurses like comprehensive care; that doctor/nurse-patient relationship remains a high expectation among hospital patients; that hospital patients expected comprehensive information and education regarding their ailments and healthcare from the doctors and nurses; and that hospital patients expected doctors and nurses to be available on duty always. It is recommended that since meeting the needs and expectations of the patients from doctors and nurses is one of the basic issues in patient care, all efforts need to be put in place to ensure improved patient care, and awareness about patients’ needs and expectations should be embarked upon towards meeting their expectations.