Gap between the Expectations and Perceptions of Students regarding the Educational Services Offered in a School of Nursing and Midwifery.

INTRODUCTION: Awareness of students' opinions about the various aspects of training provided is an essential factor to evaluate the quality of education.

AIM: The aim of this study was to determine the gap between the students' expectations and perceptions from the educational services provided to them in the School of Nursing and Midwifery in Shahrekord University of Medical Sciences.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this cross-sectional study, 320 students were selected by stratified random sampling method and data were collected by SERVQUAL questionnaire to examine the areas of assurance, responsiveness, empathy, tangibles and confidence. Data analysis was conducted by descriptive (frequency, percentage, mean±SD) and analytical (paired t-test, independent t-test and One-Way ANOVA) statistics in SPSS 20.

RESULTS: The mean scores of the students' expectations and perceptions of the educational services delivered to them were 4.34±0.63 and 3.56±0.68, respectively, with a significant, negative gap (-0.77±0.77, p<0.001). The lowest gap of quality was derived for assurance (-0.65) followed by reliability (-0.69), accountability (-0.74), and empathy (-0.81), and the greatest gap observed in tangibles (-0.96).

CONCLUSION: A negative gap was observed between the students' expectations and perceptions of the quality of educational services delivered to them. This means that the quality of services delivered to students was less than what they expected. The highest gap was related to the tangibles. In order to improve the educational services, paying attention to different areas of quality of educational services, especially, the tangibles, is necessary.