This study was performed to give direction to quality improvement strategies of nursing services by comparing the differences in quality perceptions and satisfaction for nursing services between patients and nurses in small-medium sized general hospitals with 200 beds.

The subjects, who were 150 inpatients and 162 nurses of 4 general hospitals in a community, answered a self-report questionnaire with a SERVQUAL scale.

There were differences between patients' and nurses' expectations and perceptions of nursing service and satisfaction. In the service expectation, the highest factor was ‘the responsiveness’, and in the perceived performance, the highest was the ‘assurance’. In addition, overall patients' perceptions on nursing services showed higher than nurses'. There were positive correlations among the expectations and perceptions on nursing service, and satisfaction. The correlation between perception and satisfaction was higher than the correlation between expectations and satisfaction.

To improve the nursing service quality at small-medium hospitals, strengthening the ‘assurance’ factor and improving the nursing service support system is needed. Also, this study on nurses' perceived nursing service at small-medium sized hospitals should be duplicated.