Purpose: Accreditation helps to ensure safe and high-quality services in hospitals. Different occupational groups have various hospital accreditation experiences. The purpose of this paper is to investigate nurses' accreditation experience and its effects on Iranian teaching hospital service quality.
Design/methodology/approach: This was a qualitative study involving a phenomenological approach to studying nurses' hospital accreditation experience and understanding the effects on Iranian teaching hospital service quality. Data were collected using two focus groups in which nurses were selected using purposive sampling. Transcripts were analyzed using content analysis.
Findings: Nurses' experiences showed that hospital administrators and nurses had greater role in implementing accreditation than other occupational groups. Accreditation improved patient-centeredness, patient safety, logistics and managerial processes and decision making. However, a weak incentive system, extra documentation and work stress were negative experiences.
Practical implications: Nurse experience, as the most important care team member, reveals accreditation's strengths and weaknesses and its effects on service quality.
Originality/value: The author used a phenomenology approach to measure accreditation effects on service quality - a valuable tool for understanding a phenomenon among those that experience hospital accreditation processes.
Keywords: Accreditation; Hospital; Iran; Quality healthcare.