Abstract:

The study was carried out to assess in-patients satisfaction with food served at Imo State University Teaching Hospital, Orlu. The daily intake of food rich in all classes of nutrients help in promoting wound healing; decrease the occurrence of complications; as well as aiding the patient’s recovery from diseases or injuries. Three research questions gave direction to the study. Descriptive survey research design was adopted for the study. The target population for the study consisted of two hundred and thirty two (232) in-patients in different wards of Imo State University Teaching Hospital (IMSUTH). The accessible total population of in-patients as at the time of study was one hundred and fifty four (154). The main instrument for data collection was structured questionnaire. Face validation was done by a jury of Medical and Health workers in Universities, South East of Nigeria to determine the extent to which the items on the structured questionnaire are in uniformity with the stated research questions. The reliability of the instrument was done using test-retest technique (r = 0.74). The data collected were analyzed using descriptive statistics of frequency counts, percentages and charts. The result revealed that only 5.3% and 3.3% of the respondents have high and moderate levels of satisfaction respectively with the food served in their wards. Among the factors responsible for food dissatisfaction were unattractive plates and dishes “any how plate” (40.7%), foods were served cold (37.3%), appearance of food not appetizing (45.3%), unfriendly attitude of food servers (24.7%) and serving meals late (29.3%). The respondents suggested that foods should be well presented (49.3%) and that the hospital should introduce meal options (47.3%) and to serve meals warm or hot (63.3%) so as to improve their satisfaction with food served in IMSUTH wards. Based on the findings, the researcher recommended that nurses as the ward managers and patients advocates, should liaise with the appropriate health personnel such as dietician, nutritionists etc. in the food service through a periodic interactive session with a view to relaying clients’ needs and complaints to appropriate authorities. This will go a long way to encourage adequate nutrition and promote speedy recovery of the patients.

Keywords: In-patients, food, food satisfaction.

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