title: Nurse-led intermediate care: patients' perceptions.
abstract: Intermediate care currently forms one of the UK Government's main initiatives for improving the quality of post-acute care. This paper examines patients' and carers' experiences of a nurse-led unit, which aims to provide intermediate care for people no longer acutely ill. Drawing on findings from qualitative interview data, we demonstrate that patients viewed this model of care as acceptable but that they had markedly inconsistent experiences of care and reported considerable variation in their perceptions of the Unit's purpose. Some possible reasons for this are explored. Implications for the development of good quality nurse-led intermediate care are outlined.
authors.affiliation: Health and Rehabilitation Research Unit, School of Health Professions and Rehabilitation Sciences, University of Southampton, Highfield, Southampton SO17 1BJ, UK. raw@soton.ac.uk
authors.forename: Rose
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Wiles
authors.forename: Karen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Postle
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Steiner
authors.forename: Bronagh
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Walsh
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001294:Attitude to Health; D003289:Convalescence; D005260:Female; D006302:Health Services Research; D006757:Hospital Units / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006801:Humans; D007380:Intermediate Care Facilities / Q000458:organization & administration*; D008297:Male; D016294:Models, Nursing; D009718:Nurse Administrators; D024802:Nurse's Role; D015403:Nursing Evaluation Research; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D017009:Professional Autonomy; D011383:Progressive Patient Care / Q000458:organization & administration; D036301:Qualitative Research; D013222:State Medicine / Q000458:organization & administration; D019467:Subacute Care / Q000458:organization & administration*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D017749:Total Quality Management / Q000458:organization & administration; D006113:United Kingdom