title: Modern Matrons: can they be easily identified by hospital patients?
abstract: The Modern Matron was introduced into hospital Trusts in April 2002 to improve the basics of patient care. They were to be easily identifiable, highly visible and authoritative figures. This article reports on a quantitative study done to ascertain if patients can identify the Modern Matron in one acute NHS Trust. A researcher-developed questionnaire was sent to 20 Modern Matrons and a different questionnaire was distributed to 72 randomly selected patients. The results demonstrated that only 5% of patients surveyed were able to correctly identify the Modern Matron by their uniform. This may be explained by the response from the Modern Matrons when asked how much time was spent with patients; 67% of their normal working day was taken up with management of staff, paperwork and meetings, leaving very little direct patient time.
authors.affiliation: Queen Elizabeth Hospital, University Hospital Birminigham Foundation Trust.
authors.forename: Sally
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bufton
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001294:Attitude to Health; D003020:Clothing; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004616:Emblems and Insignia; D005260:Female; D018166:Health Care Reform / Q000458:organization & administration; D006801:Humans; D007297:Inpatients / Q000523:psychology*; D007857:Leadership; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009718:Nurse Administrators / Q000458:organization & administration* / Q000523:psychology; D024802:Nurse's Role / Q000523:psychology; D009723:Nurse-Patient Relations; D015404:Nursing Methodology Research; D009745:Nursing, Supervisory; D011209:Power, Psychological; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012938:Social Perception; D013222:State Medicine / Q000458:organization & administration; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013996:Time and Motion Studies