An approach to evaluating the introduction of primary nursing in an acute medical unit for the elderly--II. Operationalizing the principles.

The first paper set out the 10 principles which formed the basis on which primary nursing has been introduced in an acute elderly care ward. This paper explores the problems of expressing these principles in terms which make it possible to demonstrate that changes in the way nurses approach their patients and their work have really taken place and suggest some of the research strategies which might be appropriate.