Assessing Behaviors and Factors That Influence Patient Care by Nurses at the Buea Regional Hospital, Southwest Region, Cameroon

Background: Nurses’ attitude continues to be a major health problem in developing countries, especially as nurses’ behavior has a great influence on patient recovery. Patient safety is an important aspect of health care delivery, which is affected by several factors, and it is critical to health care assessment. Therefore, assessing behaviors and factors that influence patient care by nurses at the Buea Regional Hospital, Southwest Region, Cameroon is imperative. Methods: This study targeted adult patients who received healthcare at the Buea Regional Hospital from 3 January to 19 February 2024. The study was a descriptive and cross-sectional study that used a non-probability sampling method, recruiting patients based on their availability during data collection. Data was collected using a semi-structured questionnaire. The data collected was analyzed using SPSS 23.0, and the results were presented in tables and figures. Results: A total of 78 patients were recruited, whereby most participants attested that nurses at the Buea Regional Hospital were polite in the way they talk to patients 56/78 (71.8%) and nurses work considerably in teams 47/78 (60.3%). Also, most of the nurses made the patients feel safe 52/78 (66.7%), while at the hospital. Participants revealed that kind-heartedness 52/78 (66.7%) was a common behavior by nurses, and this made the patients feel free to express themselves 56/79 (71.8%). Participants revealed that nurses’ behavior and attitude towards patients were influenced by working in very comfortable positions (59.0%), low wages (42.3%), stipends (51.2%), high workload (55; 70.5%) and a small number of staff per unit (51; 65.4%). Conclusion: Nurses’ behavior or attitude was generally good as revealed by the participants, although the attitude and behavior of nurses towards patients were influenced by certain factors such as low wages and few staff per unit. Workload management tools such as shift rotation plans, break policies, and task delegation strategies can be developed to ease the burden on nurses.