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Published on: February 16, 2011
Primary nursing: a mode of care or a philosophy of nursing?
1Institute of Health Studies, University of Plymouth, Somerset Centre, Taunton, England. dpontin@plymouth.ac.uk
Abstract:
An examination of the literature surrounding primary nursing has shown that the term 'primary nursing' is used to mean different things by different authors. This results in a confusing situation where 'primary nursing' is considered by some to mean both a mode of organizing care delivery and a philosophy of nursing. In this paper I argue for a clear separation between the terms which refer to the set of ideas underpinning nursing and descriptions of modes of care. A case is made for using the term 'human centred nursing' to refer to nursing beliefs and 'primary nursing' to refer to the mode of nursing care delivery.
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