| Summary: | It has been reported for over the last decade that the quality of nursing care provided towards
patients has decreased tremendously. The literature shows the impact of poor quality nursing
to patients and assumes the influence of nurses’ perceptions of quality nursing care on its
delivery. However, studies about such perceptions are still few in Rwanda.
Aim: The purpose of this study was to explore the perceptions of quality nursing care among
nurses working in two district hospitals in Rwanda.
Methodology: A non-experimental exploratory descriptive design which was quantitative in
nature was used. A self-report questionnaire comprised items related to socio-demographic
characteristics of participants, perceptions of quality nursing care, nurses’ role in continuous
quality improvement and factors affecting the delivery of quality nursing care. The sample
was obtained through a purposive non-probability sampling of the nurses (n=150) who were
available during data collection from 16 to 28 October 2011, with a return rate of 110 (73%)
of completed questionnaires.
Results: The findings from demographic data indicated that many of nurses were young, with
48.2% falling into the 20 to 30 year old bracket and the majority of the participants (83.3%)
were enrolled nurses. Many of the participants were new to the nursing profession, with
47.2% falling into the 6 months-5 years working experience bracket. This study suggests that
nurses had an appropriate perception of quality nursing care, as evidenced by the mean score
of 4.183 (SD: .5741), related to nurses’ understanding of quality nursing care with mean
score of 4.137 (SD: .5763) for the perceptions of the delivery of quality nursing care. The
role played by nurses in continuous quality improvement was evident, but it was constrained
by the factors related their nursing practice environment, including: shortage of nurses, lack
of time, heavier workloads, and few opportunities for advancement.
Conclusion: In summary, this study provided insights into nurses’ perceptions of quality
nursing care, and their current ongoing endeavours to provide quality improvement in spite of
challenges in their workforce environment. This study has described the challenges which
interfere with the delivery of quality nursing care that need to be addressed so that patients
may benefit from evidence-based care. === Thesis (M.N.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2011.
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