Insights into Women's Experiences of Hospital Stays: Perceived Control, Powerlessness and Satisfaction

Abstract

AbstractUnderstanding the psychosocial experiences of women as hospital patients is an important step in assessing the relationship to healthy outcomes of patients' perceived experiences of power and control in hospital. Accordingly, the aims of this study of 124 adult women were (a) to document women's psychosocial experiences during a hospital stay, and (b) to develop and psychometrically evaluate a scale to measure perceived control over treatment, management and daily routine during a hospital stay (Perceived Control in Hospital Scale; PCHS). Women who had experienced a hospital stay of at least one night were surveyed. The qualitative section of the study involved thematic analysis of the written or oral comments of 10 women concerning psychosocial aspects of their hospital experience. Results indicated that the PCHS comprised three factors describing patients' perceptions of their hospital stay: Respect/Communication, Lack of Dignity, and Day-to-Day Control. The survey results showed that although the majority of the women were satisfied with the psychosocial aspects of being an in-patient, there was a substantial core of perceived powerlessness. A significant proportion of women indicated that they either felt “not listened to”, experienced loss of dignity, or experienced unnecessary loss of day-to-day control.