Introduction:

Humanization of care is a need demanded by users, and it is necessary to generate evidence that identifies both strengths and shortcomings in nurse-patient care.

Objective:

To determine the perception of adult patients regarding the humanized care provided by nursing professionals in a hospital in the Southern Zone of Chile.

Materials and Methods:

A cross-sectional and analytical study was conducted using a sociodemographic survey and the third version of the Perception of Behavior Related to Humanized Nursing Care (PCHE) instrument, which reports an internal consistency determined by Cronbach's alpha of 0.96. A non-probabilistic convenience sampling method was applied, and the ethical principles proposed by Ezekiel J. Emanuel were upheld.

Results:

Overall, most patients perceived that nurses always delivered humanized care. When comparing the mean scores of the PCHE dimensions with sociodemographic variables, significant differences were found in relation to sex and educational level: men with secondary education reported higher scores.

Discussion:

The perception of humanized care among hospitalized adult patients was more favorable than in a Mexican study but lower than the findings of a Chilean study conducted in a Hemato-Oncology Unit.

Conclusion:

As the lowest scores were observed in the openness to nurse-patient communication dimension, developing strategies to strengthen this bond is essential.

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