In Praise of Nursing's Collective Practice

Abstract

Nurses are credentialed as individuals; recruited, selected, and retained as individuals; and judged by managers and peers on the basis of individual practice. Developing a collective practice, which requires different ways of knowing, collaborating, and measuring success as well as a different perspective on our work, allows us to adhere to standards, achieve best practices, reduce variability, and enhance the predictability of patient outcomes.