An approach to evaluating the introduction of primary nursing in an acute medical unit for the elderly — II. Operationalizing the principles

Nursing organizational practice and its relationship with other features of ward organization and job satisfaction

“…The WP describes objective features of wards and aspects of nursing practice. It was generated from qualitative interviews with ward nurses and managers which underpinned the study ( Adams & Bond 1995b) and from items included in previous instruments to assess ward practice ( MacGuire 1989; Thomas & Bond 1990, Mead 1993, Bowman et al . 1991 , 1993) which were likely to discriminate between wards.…”

“…Involving both organizational and ideological elements, there is no shared definition of primary nursing in the literature, although operational definitions have been provided for particular studies (e.g. MacGuire 1989, Thomas & Bond 1990, Bowman et al . 1993 ).…”

“…She/he is responsible for the care of a small caseload of patients from admission to discharge from the ward, and sometimes beyond ( Anderson & Choi 1980). She/he also has this responsibility on a 24‐hour basis, where prescribed care is delivered by a small group of associate nurses in the absence of the primary nurse ( Manthey 1980, MacGuire 1989). In some formulations and contrary to the ethos of functional nursing, primary nursing elevates the status of all nursing tasks to being within the proper domain of the qualified nurse.…”

“…Attempts have been made to produce research tools which classify wards according to nursing organization systems, particularly primary nursing, in order to facilitate the evaluation process (e.g. MacGuire 1989, Thomas & Bond 1990, Bond et al . 1991 , Bowman et al .…”

An investigation into primary nursing and its effect upon the nursing attitudes about and administration of prn night sedation

“…(Halfens et al 1991) Hodgson (1991) argues that although sleep is common to all humans, researchers have not been able to prove conclusively any essential function to sleep, yet advocates that the nurse is in a unique position to facilitate and enable patients to sleep, or at least cope during their wakeful hours, and highlights the importance of individualized patient care as part of this process. In recent years, a growing interest in measuring the outcomes of nursing practice has been evident in nursing management, research and practice (Macguire 1989, Bond & Thomas 1991. Through an interest in the nursing practices surrounding the administration of night sedation and the nursing attitudes influencing these practices, the researcher embarked on a review of the literature.…”