Patient‐Reported Missed Nursing Care and Trust in Nurses: A Cross‐Sectional Study of Patient, Nurse, and Ward Level Factors

AIM: To examine the relationship between patient-reported missed nursing care and trust in nurses and to identify patient-, nurse-, and ward-level factors associated with trust in nurses. DESIGN: A descriptive cross-sectional study. METHODS: The study was conducted with 356 hospitalised patients from medical and surgical inpatient wards. Data were collected using the Patient Information Form, Nurse and Ward Information Form, MISSCARE Survey-Patient and Trust in Nurses Scale. Descriptive and inferential statistics were performed using SPSS 27. Reporting was guided by the STROBE checklist. RESULTS: The communication dimension of missed nursing care was significantly associated with trust in nurses. Hierarchical regression analyses showed that communication-related missed care remained independently associated with trust after controlling for patient-, nurse-, and ward-level factors. In contrast, nurse- and ward-level characteristics, including patient-to-nurse ratio, bed turnover rate, nurse age, professional experience, and overtime, were not significantly associated with trust. Among patient characteristics, only employment status was identified as a significant predictor of trust. No significant differences in trust or missed nursing care scores were observed across wards. CONCLUSION: Communication-related missed nursing care was independently associated with trust in nurses. The findings suggest that patients may place greater importance on communication experiences than on structural characteristics when evaluating nursing care and developing trust in nurses. IMPLICATIONS FOR THE PROFESSION AND/OR PATIENT CARE: Interventions aimed at strengthening nurse-patient communication, patient information sharing, and therapeutic interactions may contribute to improving patients' trust in nurses. Communication-related missed care should be considered an important quality indicator in inpatient settings. PATIENT OR PUBLIC CONTRIBUTION: Patients contributed to this study by completing the survey instruments. IMPACT: Evidence regarding the relationship between patient-reported missed nursing care and trust in nurses remains limited. Communication-related missed nursing care was independently associated with lower trust in nurses, whereas nurse- and ward-level characteristics were not significantly associated with trust. The findings may support nurses, nurse managers, and healthcare organisations in prioritising communication-focused quality improvement initiatives to strengthen patient trust in inpatient care settings.