Impact of the Surgical Mask on the Patient-nurse Relation in Primary Care

Not Applicable

• Conditions: Satisfaction, Personal
• Interventions: Procedure: Routine wound treatment; Device: Mask

• Registration Number: NCT03584685
• Lead Sponsor: Universidade do Porto

Brief Summary

The goal of this study is to inspect the effect of nurses wearing the surgical mask on their patients' satisfaction with the relationship. All participants will initially be treated without the mask. Then, half will be treated with the mask and the other half will be treated without the mask.

Detailed Description

The use of the surgical mask has well-known benefits for both the patient and the professional regarding the control of infection contamination. However, its use is left to individual criteria, and is passed on from generation to generation of nurses through experiential, intuitive knowledge. Studies are necessary to support the use of the surgical mask.

Research indicates that wearing the mask affects perception of words, thus influencing patient-nurse communication. However, it might also affect the very nurse--patient relation. For example, it can convey the idea of personal distancing, which can either be appreciated by patients as dutiful professional care by the nurse, or viewed as a limit imposed on interpersonal communication and on the relationship.

This study inspects patient satisfaction about (1) interpersonal aspects and (2) professionalism in the patient-nurse relationship when the mask is used.

Study Timeline

• Study Start: 2018-01-31
• Status Verified: 2018-06
• Study First Submitted: 2018-06-29
• Study First Submitted QC: 2018-06-29
• Study First Posted: 2018-07-12
• Last Update Submitted: 2018-11-15
• Last Update Posted: 2018-11-16
• Primary Completion: 2018-12
• Study Completion: 2018-12

Recruitment & Eligibility

• Status: UNKNOWN
• Sex: All
• Target Recruitment: 150

Inclusion Criteria

• Patients suffering from chronic wounds
• Age: 18 years or older
• Know how to read and write in Portuguese
• Confirmed autopsychic and allopsychic orientation
• Maintain previous relation with the nurse of at least 18 months
• Need at least two consecutive treatments with the nurse

Exclusion Criteria

• Failing to meet the above criteria

Study & Design

• Study Type: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Design: SEQUENTIAL

Arm && Interventions

Group	Intervention	Description
Without Mask	Routine wound treatment	Routine wound treatment appointment without nurses wearing the surgical mask.
With Mask	Mask	Use of the surgical mask in one routine wound treatment appointment.

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
30-item questionnaire assessing patient satisfaction with the nurse-patient relation (the PSQ-III)	1 day	Self-reported patient satisfaction after one appointment with the nurse about interpersonal aspects of the patient-nurse relation (7 items), communication (5 items) and nurse's technical quality (10 items). Responses are given on a 1 to 5 Likert scale. Higher scores correspond to greater satisfaction.

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Sensation of time	1 day	1 question asked about how long patients and nurses felt that the appointment lasted

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

CINTESIS - Faculty of Medicine of the University of Porto; 🇵🇹 Porto, Portugal