A group of patients (n = 69) were asked to arrange the three most important
of 10 groups of needs, identified by patients in a previous study, in orde
r of priority from one to three. A group of nurses (n = 89) were asked to a
rrange same groups of needs in order of priority from one to three accordin
g to how they believed patients would rank them. No significant differences
were found between patients cared for at medical and at surgical wards or
between nurses working at different departments. However, differences were
found between the rankings of patients and nurses.