Assuming responsibility for one's health: an analysis of a key assumption in Nursing's Agenda for Health Care Reform.

Nursing's proposal for health care reform includes an expanded role for the consumer of health care and an emphasis on personal responsibility for health. This shift in the philosophic underpinnings of the health care delivery system is a significant change from our current system. The impact and importance of this shift should not be underestimated. This article has begun an analysis of this shift by addressing three questions--why include these responsibility tenets now, what does personal responsibility in the context of health mean, and what are the consequences of including personal responsibility in a health care reform package? Nursing's Agenda for Health Care Reform is an important step forward in suggesting changes to our present health care delivery system. It broadens the scope of reform to include the consumer of health care as a major component of this reform. But the profession has to be clear on what the role of the individual is. While the individual is key to any successful change, nursing must be ever vigilant that the reform proposal is not used to justify unintended and harmful consequences.