All demographic data of the participants are detailed in Table 7. Patient satisfaction with medical staff- patient interaction in HD unit and patient satisfaction with care before, during, and after dialysis (n = 119) were expressed as percentages, as shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3.

Patient satisfaction with medical staff-patient interaction in HD unit

Patient satisfaction with care during dialysis

Patient satisfaction with care before and after dialysis session

A total of 119 patients participated in our study during the study period (The total number of patients in the HD unit is 160 patients, response rate is 74.3%). The mean age of the study sample was 47.5 years (range: 19:80), females were slightly more than males representing 56.3% of the study population, 79% of the study population were married ,63.9% were from rural areas.

Regarding patients’ response to the questionnaire, patients were generally satisfied with “medical staff-patient interaction in hemodialysis unit” (mean = 2.7), patients were satisfied with all aspects of this domain except for “medical staff explanation of nature of treatment and possible side effects” for which patients were neutral (mean = 2.38).

Independent samples t-test showed no significant difference between males and females in satisfaction with this domain (p-value = 0.870), also no significant difference in satisfaction was found between different marital status (p-value = 0.764), different residence (p-value = 0.271), different education levels (p-value = 0.202), or different occupation (p-value = 0.110), (significant at P ≤ 0.05).

A non-significant correlation was found between sex (r=-0.15, p = 0.870), marital status (r=-0.0.028, p = 0.764), residence (r=-0.102, p = 0.271), and occupation (r=-0.078, p = 0.4) and patient satisfaction with this domain. A significant negative poor correlation was found between education and patient satisfaction (r=-0.084, p = 0.03).

Patients were also generally satisfied with “care during dialysis session” (mean = 2.83), patients were satisfied with all aspects of this domain except for “nurses’ enquiry to physicians for corrective changes in care if results of kidney function tests are abnormal” and “response of enquired physicians if a problem aroused during session” for which patients were neutral (mean = 2.27 and 2.39 respectively).

Independent samples t-test showed no significant difference between males and females in satisfaction with this domain (p-value = 0.616), also no significant difference in satisfaction was found between different marital status (p-value = 0.729), different residence (p-value = 0.897), different education levels (p-value = 0.912), or different occupation (p-value = 0.340), (significant at P ≤ 0.05).

A non-significant correlation was found between sex (r=-0.046, p = 0.616), marital status (r=-0.032, p = 0.729), residence (r=-0.012, p = 0.897), occupation (r=-0.125, p = 0.177), education (r=-0.084, p = 0.367) and patient satisfaction with this domain.

Patients were generally neutral about “care before and after dialysis session” (mean = 2.28), Patients were satisfied with only two aspects of this domain; “nurses’ observations prior to dialysis” and “nurses’ observations post dialysis prior to administration of post dialysis medications”; (mean = 3.02 and 2.6 respectively), while Patients were neutral about two aspects of this domain; “physical examination prior to dialysis” and “medical staff counseling after reviewing post dialysis results”; (mean = 1.89 and 2.33 respectively), Patients were dissatisfied with “taking history of previous dialysis and history of current water and dietary intake”; (mean = 1.58).

Independent samples t-test showed no significant difference between males and females in satisfaction with this domain (p-value = 0.986), also no significant difference in satisfaction was found between different marital status (p-value = 0.072), different residence (p-value = 0.561), different education levels (p-value = 0.609), or different occupation (p-value = 0.190), (significant at P ≤ 0.05).

A non-significant correlation was found between sex (r=-0.002, p = 0.986), marital status (r=-0.165, p = 0.072), residence (r=-0.054, p = 0.561), occupation (r=-0.144, p = 0.119) and education (r=-0.113, p = 0.222) and patient satisfaction with this domain.

On calculating the mean of all 16 questions included in the questionnaire, it was found that Patients were generally satisfied with care they received at dialysis unit (mean = 2.64).

Thirty-eight patients attended the morning session (31.9% of total participants), their mean level of satisfaction was 2.63 on Likert 4-point scale, while 48 patients attended the afternoon session (40.3%), and their mean level of satisfaction was 2.72 on Likert 4-point scale. 33 patients attended the evening session (27.7%) and their mean level of satisfaction was 2.61 on Likert 4-point scale). Pearson’s correlation coefficient was calculated to assess the correlation between session timing and level of satisfaction: r = 0.018, P-value = 0.842, showing that there is no significant correlation between session timing and level of satisfaction

On analyzing patients’ responses to the observational checklist regarding health-care staff, the majority of the patients (77.3%) reported a deficiency in nephrologists in the hemodialysis unit, on the contrary, the majority (79%) were satisfied with nurse-patient ratio. 72.3% and 66.4% were satisfied with the availability of biomedical technologists and lab technologists respectively. However, 88.2% of the patients were not satisfied with the availability of nutritionists for dietary counseling. Almost all the patients (96.6%) were satisfied with the supportive staff and cleanup process.

The observational checklist regarding equipment in HD unit showed that the majority of patients (62.2%) reported that available dialysis machines are not enough, while (58.8%) reported that dysfunctional dialysis machines are repaired in time. All patients (100%) reported that miscellaneous items are always available to facilitate dialysis, and that they don’t need an item store for dialysis items.