Asian Journal of Management

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Role of Empathy in Ensuring Patient Satisfaction at Government Hospitals in Kerala: An Investigation


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1 Department of Management Studies, Kannur University, Kerala, India
     

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Human beings always look for concern and consideration from others. The desire for empathy persists in every individual throughout his/her life. This need for empathy intensifies at times when a person is facing some difficulty. Whenever a person is having any problem, he/she expects people to empathize with him. This is very much true in case of patients. Whenever a person visits a hospital with any kind of illness, he/she expects the doctors, nurses and even the support staff to show care and concern towards him/her or rather empathize with him/her. Even a slightest feeling of lack of empathy may cause great dissatisfaction to patients. So the present paper tries to identify the most crucial factors impacting the satisfaction of patients with the empathy of staff members at government hospitals in Kerala. Factor analysis of the data collected from 240 patients across various government hospitals, through field survey, indicated that 'patience, care and concern of doctors and nurses' and 'doctors' interest in patients and the comfort provided by them were the vital factors impacting patients' satisfaction with empathy of staff members. Regression analysis indicated that there existed difference in perception of male and female patients regarding these factors.

Keywords

Comfort, Concern, Empathy, Patience.
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  • Role of Empathy in Ensuring Patient Satisfaction at Government Hospitals in Kerala: An Investigation

Abstract Views: 362  |  PDF Views: 0

Authors

K. R. Rehin
Department of Management Studies, Kannur University, Kerala, India
P. T. Raveendran
Department of Management Studies, Kannur University, Kerala, India

Abstract


Human beings always look for concern and consideration from others. The desire for empathy persists in every individual throughout his/her life. This need for empathy intensifies at times when a person is facing some difficulty. Whenever a person is having any problem, he/she expects people to empathize with him. This is very much true in case of patients. Whenever a person visits a hospital with any kind of illness, he/she expects the doctors, nurses and even the support staff to show care and concern towards him/her or rather empathize with him/her. Even a slightest feeling of lack of empathy may cause great dissatisfaction to patients. So the present paper tries to identify the most crucial factors impacting the satisfaction of patients with the empathy of staff members at government hospitals in Kerala. Factor analysis of the data collected from 240 patients across various government hospitals, through field survey, indicated that 'patience, care and concern of doctors and nurses' and 'doctors' interest in patients and the comfort provided by them were the vital factors impacting patients' satisfaction with empathy of staff members. Regression analysis indicated that there existed difference in perception of male and female patients regarding these factors.

Keywords


Comfort, Concern, Empathy, Patience.

References