NURSING DEVELOPMENT UNITS - THEIR STRUCTURE AND ORIENTATION

This paper provides background material about the Department of Health funded Nursing Development Units (NDUs), specifically their biographi cal and contextual characteristics, their aims and values, and their o rganization of work and resources acquired. The data were drawn from q uestionnaires to clinical leaders and from documentation. The findings are summarized under five questions which address the NDUs' values an d aims, their organization of work, multiprofessional working, activen ess in acquiring resources and support and the effect of the host orga nization. Taken as a whole, the aims match the vision of the ideal NDU specified by the pioneers of the NDU movement, and most clinical lead ers subscribed to primary nursing as their preferred mode of organizin g nursing work. Multiprofessional working was a common feature and the re was considerable evidence of equality in team membership status. A small, number of NDUs had been awarded grants for research and most we re successful in generating income from conferences. Nearly all had li nks with an academic institution. NDUs that had the support of their T rust's management were able to market their services successfully. Our findings indicate that many NDUs have made good progress but their cl inical leaders are the first to admit that there is much more to be do ne.