NURSING IMPLICATIONS OF THE DEPARTMENT-OF-DEFENSE COORDINATED CARE PROGRAM

As the Department of Defense implements the Coordinated Care Program ( CCP), it is essential to examine the implications of such a change for nursing. The nursing aspects of a CCP must be designed with considera tion of nursing's contribution to patient care and hence the relations hip of nursing to quality, access, and cost containment goals. In this paper, following an overview of the CCP, three major nursing implicat ions of the CCP are identified and addressed. These are: (a) the cost of nursing, (b) the structure of nursing, and (c) the role of nurses.