Patient satisfaction as a positive nursing outcome.

The purpose of this cross-sectional survey was to assess patient satisfaction and analyze its relationship to nurse staffing levels in 34 inpatient wards at 4 Finnish university hospitals. The patients were satisfied with their care in general. However, the proportion of registered nurses (RNs), the patient-to-RN ratio, and the RNs' working years were highly related to patient satisfaction. Eight patients per RN was the cut-off point for patient satisfaction.