This book aims to illustrate the application of a variety of quality
approaches and models specifically to the commissioning , management
and practice of community nursing. It is assumed that there is
no single model of quality that universally 'fits' community nursing,
which is wide-ranging in philosophy and practice. Therefore, a
range of perspectives is presented in the following chapters, both
in terms of their approach to quality and the professional/client
groups that form their focus.
The chapters also vary in their criticality with respect to the
concept of quality. Some authors embrace mainstream quality
instruments and show how these apply to aspects of community
nursing, for example setting standards for patients with leg ulcers,
or within the residential and nursing home sector. Other chapters
reveal a more pragmatic approach, viewing a wide range of practice
initiatives, or evidence-based health care as demonstrating quality .
Finally, and most challengingly, there is outright rejection of the
relevance of the quality movement for the nursing care of people
with a mental illness.
Chapter 1, by Carolyn Mason, aims to set the scene by providing
a critical appraisal of quality in the current NHS, with relation to
community nursing . This should give readers an understanding of
the policy requirement to demonstrate quality in service delivery,
the development of the quality movement, and the main approaches
and tools used in the context of health care. There is a clear message
that community nursing is quality care, both qualitatively in
processes such as bereavement counselling or long-term support