"What is meant by the term percentile and how should it be interpreted?"
Response:
Percentiles are often misunderstood. A percentile is a point on a scale below which a certain percent of scores fall. For example, the 75th percentile is the point in a distribution of scores below which 75 percent of scores fall. The 25th percentile is the point below which 25 percent of scores fall. The 50th percentile, also called the median (the middlemost score), is the point at which 50 percent of scores fall beneath.
Therefore, when interpreting your percentile scores, remember that higher is better. If your percentile is around 50, then you are performing better that about half of the database. If your percentile is around 66 or 67, you are performing better than about two-thirds of the database. If the score on one of your reports indicates that your hospital is at the 92nd percentile on a survey item rating nurses you should celebrate because you have performed better than 92 percent of the hospitals in the database on that item.
However, if you scored at the 5th percentile on nursing, you have a lot of work to do!