A. Titchen et A. Binnie, WHAT AM I MEANT TO BE DOING - PUTTING PRACTICE INTO THEORY AND BACK AGAIN IN NEW NURSING ROLES, Journal of advanced nursing, 18(7), 1993, pp. 1054-1065
This two-part paper is based on some of the findings from an action re
search study of the development of patient-centred nursing in an acute
medical unit. In the first part, Angie Titchen presents findings from
a case study of a ward undergoing the initial changes from traditiona
l nursing to primary nursing. She documents and reflects upon the comp
lexity of establishing new nursing roles, the devolution of authority
and the shift in power relationships within the ward team, and the con
fusion and pain caused by role ambiguity. In the second part, we show
how we addressed these problems through the action research.