Conceptualizing the Humanized Hospital: A Multidimensional Textual Data Analysis from Undergraduate Nursing Students' Perspectives.

Background: The humanization of care is increasingly recognized as a core component of healthcare quality; however, its meaning remains complex and strongly shaped by organizational, professional, and educational contexts. Nursing students, as future healthcare professionals, play a crucial role in...

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Published in:Nursing Reports Vol. 16; no. 2; pp. 62 - 79
Main Authors: Lo Monaco, Marika, Littlemouse, Gloria, Anastasi, Giuliano, Gheorghe, Ramona, Latina, Roberto, Figura, Mariachiara
Format: research tables/charts Journal Article
Published: MDPI Feb2026
Online Access:View this record in EBSCOhost
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      dt: Feb2026
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      pub: MDPI
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        atl: Conceptualizing the Humanized Hospital: A Multidimensional Textual Data Analysis from Undergraduate Nursing Students' Perspectives.
      aug:
        au:
          Lo Monaco, Marika
          Littlemouse, Gloria
          Anastasi, Giuliano
          Gheorghe, Ramona
          Latina, Roberto
          Figura, Mariachiara
        affil: Department of Health Promotion Sciences, Maternal and Infant Care, Internal Medicine and Medical Specialties (PROMISE), University of Palermo, 90127 Palermo, Italy
      sug:
        subj:
          Students, Nursing, Baccalaureate Psychosocial Factors
          Student Attitudes
          Concept Formation
          Patient Centered Care
          Human
          Qualitative Studies
          Exploratory Research
          Italy
          Male
          Female
          Adult
          Open-Ended Questionnaires
          Factor Analysis
          Data Analysis Software
          Education, Nursing
          Medical Practice
          Data Analysis
          Multivariate Analysis
          Descriptive Statistics
          Health Facility Environment
          Psychological Well-Being
          Teamwork
          Professional Competence
          Adult: 19-44 years
          Male
          Female
      ab: Background: The humanization of care is increasingly recognized as a core component of healthcare quality; however, its meaning remains complex and strongly shaped by organizational, professional, and educational contexts. Nursing students, as future healthcare professionals, play a crucial role in the development and transmission of humanized care values, making their representations of the humanized hospital particularly relevant for understanding how these values are constructed during professional education. Aim: To explore how undergraduate nursing students conceptualize the humanized hospital. Methods: A qualitative exploratory study was conducted involving 742 undergraduate nursing students enrolled in a Bachelor of Science in Nursing program in Italy. Data were collected through a single open-ended written question inviting students to describe how they imagine a humanized hospital. Textual data were analyzed using Automatic Analysis of Textual Data within an Exploratory Multidimensional Data Analysis framework, enabling the identification of shared lexical patterns, discursive clusters, and latent semantic dimensions within a large textual corpus. Findings: Students articulated the humanized hospital as an integrated and system-oriented care environment in which relational, organizational, professional, and holistic dimensions are deeply interconnected. Humanization was associated not only with empathy, respect, and emotional engagement, but also with organizational functioning, teamwork, adequate resources, and professional competence. Two latent dimensions structured these representations: the first highlighted organizational systems as enabling conditions for person-centered care, while the second framed professional operability and technical competence as foundations for a holistic understanding of patients' physical, psychological, and social well-being. Conclusions: Undergraduate nursing students' discourse revealed an articulated and multidimensional representation of hospital humanization, conceptualizing it as an emergent property of healthcare environments rather than as a function of individual attitudes alone. These findings underscore the importance of addressing hospital humanization simultaneously at relational, educational, and organizational levels and highlight the need for nursing education programs and healthcare institutions to foster structural and professional conditions that sustainably support humanized care in clinical practice.
      pubtype: Academic Journal
      doctype:
        research
        tables/charts
        Journal Article
      ougenre: Article
    language: English
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