Undergraduate nursing students’ perceptions of educational service quality at Alexandria University, Egypt

Abstract

This study investigated nursing students’ perceptions towards educational service quality provided by specialty departments at the Faculty of Nursing, Alexandria University. It also identified barriers and offers recommendations for improvement. A cross-sectional descriptive design was carried out utilizing a SERVPERF-based survey developed by Cronin and Taylor (1992) to measure students’ perceptions towards educational service quality. The participants’ responses to the reliability dimension (75.5 ± SD 12.7) were the highest scoring, while participants’ perceptions to the tangibles dimension were the lowest (61.0 ± SD 17.5). Further, students’ opinions regarding barriers to quality services were related to “limited time for study” and “inadequate equipment for clinical training”. Responses to positive factors affecting the quality of services were “accuracy of work”, “effective communication”, and “gaining new knowledge”, as perceived by students. The highest perceived service quality dimension among students was reliability followed by assurance, empathy, responsiveness, and tangibles. Moreover, the majority of students expressed that the Faculty of Nursing gave them prestige in the community, they were happy to study nursing, and they would not study in another higher educational institution even if they had an opportunity to do so.