Abstract: A dissertation submitted in partial fulfilment for the degree of Master of Health Sciences.
Primary nursing as a framework within which nurses deliver patient care has been a nursing care delivery system of choice in New Zealand for the last two decades. A number of studies have been carried out, with a review of the literature suggesting inconclusive support for this delivery system over other functional nursing care models. However, there is support for the philosophy underpinning this model, with documented evidence that this framework can help nurses achieve a degree of professional development and autonomous practice that other models cannot. Using documented information created during the move from one model of nursing care to another this work evaluates what were the drivers for the change, how it was managed and what the outcomes were.
Findings indicated that this change project was a success. Analysis of the data collected pre and post implementation indicated some positive shifts, but more importantly it was the information gathered from both patients and nurses that gave creditability to the new model of nursing care.