Primary nursing in a short-stay unit

Primary nursing is a model of care delivery that has been shown to improve the quality of care provided to patients and enhance the nurse-patient relationship. Although there is considerable attention in the literature on Primary Nursing concerning inpatient hospital units, there has been no discussion of Primary Nursing in short-stay units. Our hospital aimed to introduce Primary Nursing into all the units including short-stay. Staff were educated about the role of the primary nurse using Koloroutis's (2004) Relationship-Based Care model, comprising three crucial relationships: care provider's relationship with patients and families, with self, and with colleagues. The primary nurse develops the plan of care for individual patients based on their therapeutic relationship, which is sustained for the patient's length of stay in the unit.