Redesigning hospital nursing practice: the Professionally Advanced Care Team (ProACT) model, Part 1.

Nurse executives must lead in proactively managing care delivery in the face of an increasingly severe nursing shortage. Failure to do so invites the imposition of untenable "solutions" by outside parties. Much has been written about the magnitude and causes of the current nursing shortage. This article focuses on alternative practice models as a viable solution. Part 1 examines similarities and differences among existing models and describes the Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital ProACT model. Part 2 will discuss the process of developing and implementing this alternative nursing practice and care delivery model.