The named nurse in Scotland: time for action runs short.

The implementation of the named-nurse standard for Scotland takes place in 1997. Scottish nurses therefore have the opportunity to learn from the successes and pitfalls experienced by their English colleagues. This article examines the change process in one Lanarkshire hospital which saw a marked change in the extent to which patients could identify their named nurse. At the start of the project 72% of 50 patients surveyed could identify who their named nurse was. After a structured change programme involving planning, training implementation and evaluation, 100% of patients in the first eight wards that took part in the project could identify their named nurse, with 75% saying that they spoke with their named nurse on a regular basis.