Measuring Health Services Quality: Nurses' Perceptions and the SERVPERF Scale

Abstract

Abstract This study aimed to assess service quality in the healthcare sector by employing the SERVPERF scale, with a particular focus on nursing staff perceptions. The significance of nursing staff perceptions in evaluating healthcare service quality is emphasized, as they are primarily responsible for patient care. Utilizing the SERVPERF scale, the research investigates the perceived quality of health services in hospitals and examines the predictors of service quality based on the scale's dimensions and items. The five dimensions under consideration include tangibles, reliability, responsiveness, empathy, and safety. Data were collected from a sample of 214 nurses who completed the research survey to determine their perception of service quality. The questionnaire demonstrated high reliability, with an overall Cronbach alpha value of 0.72. The study was conducted in private hospitals situated in Yemen's largest city. The findings reveal that the dimensions of healthcare service quality were rated highly, with the safety dimension scoring the highest and the reliability dimension scoring the lowest. These results have significant implications for measuring healthcare service quality. Although the study is limited to a sample from nursing departments in five hospitals, the findings offer valuable insights for healthcare sector leaders to assess service quality in hospitals.