RESEARCH PAPER Functional decline and satisfaction with nursing care among older hospitalized adults Anna Zisberg RN, PhD Senior Lecturer, The Cheryl Spencer Department of Nursing, Faculty of Social Welfare & Health Sciences, University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel Cheryl Zlotnick RN, DrPH Professor, The Cheryl Spencer Department of Nursing, Faculty of Social Welfare & Health Sciences, University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel Nurit Gur-Yaish PhD Lecturer, The Cheryl Spencer Department of Nursing, Faculty of Social Welfare & Health Sciences, University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel Hanna Admi RN, PhD Director of Nursing Services, Rambam Health Care Campus, Nursing Division, Haifa, Israel Gary Sinoff MD, PhD Senior Lecturer, Department of Gerontology, Faculty of Social Welfare & Health Sciences, University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel Efrat Shadmi RN, PhD Senior Lecturer, The Cheryl Spencer Department of Nursing, Faculty of Social Welfare & Health Sciences, University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel Accepted for publication August 2013 Zisberg A, Zlotnick C, Gur-Yaish N, Admi H, Sinoff G, Shadmi E. International Journal of Nursing Practice 2014; ••: ••–•• Functional decline and satisfaction with nursing care among older hospitalized adults Around hospitalization, older adults often experience functional decline which can be a reflection of their need for nursing care. Given a shortage of nurses, determining the relationship between functional change and patients’ satisfaction with nursing care can help to gauge the need for care. We assessed this relationship in a mixed prospective-correlational cohort study with 393 patients, 70 years or older. The art, tangible aspects and general satisfaction with nursing care were measured through interviews conducted at discharge. Patients’ functional status was assessed at admission and discharge. Decline in functioning during hospitalization was the most powerful predictor of higher satisfaction with art and tangible aspects of nursing care in multivariate regression (β = 0.17–0.19, P < 0.01). This finding suggests that patients whose functioning deteriorates during hospitalization, have a greater need for and more contact with professional nursing care, and therefore report higher satisfaction with specific aspects of nursing care. Key words: functionally impaired elderly, health services for the aged, hospitalization, nursing care, patient satisfaction. Correspondence: Anna Zisberg, The Cheryl Spencer Department of Nursing, Faculty of Social Welfare and Health Studies, University of Haifa, Mount Carmel 31905, Israel. Email: azisberg@univ.haifa.ac.il International Journal of Nursing Practice 2014; ••: ••–•• doi:10.1111/ijn.12289 © 2014 Wiley Publishing Asia Pty Ltd