title: Have we the skills?
abstract: Making care more personal for patients demands that sound assessments of their needs and abilities are made in the first case. In this paper, it is argued that the assessment skills of nurses are lacking in settings where both patients and staff have become institutionalised. Breaking this mould can be achieved in a variety of ways, and here a brief description is given of how a new assessment tool and the support of a clinical specialist team can effect changes in patients' abilities and staff behaviour.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Green
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D015577:Geriatric Assessment; D005851:Geriatric Nursing; D006801:Humans; D010347:Patient Care Planning; D011568:Psychiatric Nursing