Here are some of the best questions for a patient survey about hospital cleanliness, plus quick tips for creating them. If you want to generate a smart, conversational survey in seconds, you can build a survey with Specific and let AI do the hard work.
Best open-ended questions for patient surveys on hospital cleanliness
Open-ended questions are gold for surfacing details, stories, and real insights that multiple choice just can't reach. You get to understand patient experiences in their own words, which is especially important for hygiene—a topic where nuances really matter. Whenever you want authentic, unfiltered feedback, go open-ended. Here are 10 of our favorites for patient surveys about hospital cleanliness:
Can you describe your first impression of the cleanliness when you entered the hospital?
Were there any areas of the hospital that did not meet your standards for cleanliness? Please elaborate.
How satisfied were you with the overall tidiness of your hospital room? Please explain your answer.
What, if anything, could hospital staff have done better in maintaining clean facilities?
Please tell us about your experience with restroom/toilet cleanliness during your stay.
Did you notice staff regularly cleaning high-touch areas (like door handles or bed rails)? Please share your thoughts.
Were there any times you felt concerned about hygiene or infection risk? Tell us more.
If you had to recommend one improvement to hospital cleaning practices, what would it be?
How did the cleanliness of public areas (waiting rooms, hallways) influence your sense of safety?
Is there anything else you’d like to share about hospital cleanliness and your comfort?
Open-ended questions work especially well when measured feedback needs to step aside for context-rich stories. They let patients surface issues (or praise!) that you might not anticipate. For example, while 96% of NHS hospital patients in England described their rooms as “very clean” or “fairly clean”, bathroom cleanliness is still a weak spot in many places—including 56% dissatisfaction rates in some hospitals abroad. [1][2]
Top multiple-choice questions for measuring hospital cleanliness
Single-select multiple-choice questions are perfect for quantifying satisfaction or identifying areas for improvement fast. They make it easy for patients to respond, reducing survey abandonment, and provide you with clear data trends to act on. Plus, you can use these as launching pads for deeper follow-up questions to dig into interesting or concerning responses.
Question: How would you rate the cleanliness of your hospital room during your stay?
Very clean
Fairly clean
Not very clean
Not at all clean
Question: How satisfied were you with the cleanliness of the hospital restrooms?
Very satisfied
Satisfied
Neither satisfied nor dissatisfied
Dissatisfied
Very dissatisfied
Question: Which hospital area did you find least clean?
Patient room
Restroom
Waiting area
Hallways
Other
When to follow up with "why?" It’s smart to add a follow-up “why?” whenever a patient's answer signals a potential problem or strong emotion. For instance, if a patient selects “Restroom” as the least-clean area, a follow-up like “Can you describe what you noticed about the restroom’s cleanliness?” will reveal the story behind the score—and offer actionable feedback.
When and why to add the "Other" choice? “Other” should be included when there’s a real chance a patient’s experience doesn’t fit your pre-set list. Following up with “Please specify” lets patients express concerns or insights you hadn’t expected—which is often where the richest feedback comes from. The real gems are usually in the write-in responses that don’t fit the usual boxes.
NPS-style question: should you use it for hospital cleanliness?
The Net Promoter Score (NPS) is often used for loyalty and overall satisfaction, but it can be surprisingly effective for hospital cleanliness too. By asking, “How likely are you to recommend this hospital to a friend or family member based on cleanliness?”, you gauge whether your standards are impressive enough for patients to stake their reputation on. And, as healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) can cost the US system up to $45 billion a year, making sure patients are enthusiastic advocates directly connects hygiene and your hospital’s bottom line. [3]
Want an NPS survey template made for hospital cleanliness? You can instantly launch one now—just try this custom survey creator.
The power of follow-up questions
The true magic of a conversational survey is in the follow-up. Automated AI-generated follow-up questions (read about the feature in our AI follow-up guide) probe deeper based on how a patient answers. They clarify vague responses, explore underlying issues, and ensure nothing slips through the cracks—especially valuable if you want reliable, actionable insights on a complex issue like cleanliness.
Specific’s survey engine enables smart, contextual probing in real time—effectively acting as a research expert holding a natural conversation. It saves hours you’d otherwise spend chasing people by email, and uncovers richer feedback through real dialogue.
Patient: "The bathroom wasn't great."
AI follow-up: "Can you tell us more about what made the bathroom unsatisfactory? Was it dirty surfaces, lack of supplies, or something else?"
Without a follow-up, you’d never know if the “not great” refers to an overflowing bin, a hygiene risk, or just lukewarm water—a missed opportunity for concrete improvement.
How many followups to ask? Generally, 2-3 follow-ups are ideal: enough to surface detail without annoying your patient. Specific allows you to set a max number, and also lets the AI move on once the necessary detail is gathered—so you won’t overwhelm anyone.
This makes it a conversational survey: Instead of a stilted form, your survey actually feels like a conversation. That’s why patient response rates and quality improve dramatically.
Text analysis, AI insights, survey response summaries: Analyzing unstructured text is easy with modern AI tools. AI response analysis makes surfacing main themes and action points painless—even with hundreds of detailed replies.
Automated follow-up questions are still a new concept. Try generating a survey with followups to really see the difference in depth and value for yourself.
How to compose a prompt for AI-generated patient cleanliness surveys
You can get surprisingly powerful survey questions out of ChatGPT or any advanced AI if you ask it right. Here’s a simple starter prompt:
Suggest 10 open-ended questions for Patient survey about Hospital Cleanliness.
But it pays to add as much context as possible. Here’s an improved version that will lead to stronger, more targeted questions:
I am designing a survey for patients recently discharged from hospital to gather detailed feedback about cleaning standards, hygiene, and areas needing improvement. Please suggest 10 open-ended questions that focus on their individual experiences and impressions.
Next, have AI help you organize your draft questions:
Look at the questions and categorize them. Output categories with the questions under them.
Finally, use the categories to refine your focus—for example:
Generate 10 additional questions focusing specifically on the "bathroom/restroom cleanliness" and "public areas hygiene" categories.
Using prompt engineering this way turns the AI from a random question generator into a research assistant that creates nuanced, patient-centered surveys—fast.
What is a conversational survey?
A conversational survey is built around two-way dialogue instead of a list of static questions. The difference is both subtle and profound: instead of firing off form fields, the survey adapts and follows up just as an expert interviewer would. This creates a feedback experience that’s more natural, less stressful, and—most importantly—way more insightful.
With an AI survey builder like Specific, all this takes seconds. You can create a hospital cleanliness survey using AI simply by describing your needs—no tedious manual setup, and no worrying about forgetting key questions or missing the right follow-up.
Manual survey creation | AI-generated survey (Specific) |
|---|---|
Requires deep expertise and time | Instant, expert-level questions via prompt |
No dynamic follow-ups; responses can be unclear | Smart, real-time follow-up for richer data |
Analysis requires manual reading/coding | Automatic AI summaries and theme extraction |
Dull survey experience for respondents | Smooth chat-like experience, better participation |
Why use AI for patient surveys? AI surveys are designed to do more with less effort: richer questions, context-aware conversation, and robust analytics come standard. If you want actionable insights on hospital cleanliness (not just “satisfaction” percentages), AI-powered conversational surveys are the way to go.
Try an AI survey example for patient feedback, or use an AI survey generator to draft hospital cleanliness questions that jump straight to the point. Specific delivers best-in-class user experience for conversational surveys, making feedback collection easier than ever for both you and your patients.
See this hospital cleanliness survey example now
Create a conversational hospital cleanliness survey that asks the right questions, adapts with smart follow-ups, and analyzes feedback instantly. Experience how Specific helps you unlock insights, save time, and drive patient-centered improvements—start now.