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Do ritualised activities have a place in modern health care? Two leading nurses disagree over whether patients derive any benefit
DAVID BARTON
Academic lead for nursing/head of the department of nursing, Swansea University
IN FAVOUR ROUTINES and nursing have an uncomfortable history: an association with task-oriented care that detracts from patient individuality. As a result, prevailing nursing philosophy has focused on models and methods of individualised patient care. The word 'holism' has been the Holy Grail that nurses have sought in their quest to provide care tailored to patients' needs.
But the time has come to re-examine the nature and place of routines in nursing care because they may make a significant contribution in the changing NHS. A routine may be a conscious or unconscious behaviour pattern that organises activities. It can be desirable, bringing comfort, certainty and quality to life, or constraining, monotonous and ineffective.
From a work perspective, routines enable co-ordination in organisations and, in a nursing context, a routine intervention can provide a positive patient outcome.
Outside the care setting, airline pilots make essential checks before take off; they rely on simple protocols, or the routine preflight checklist, to ensure nothing is overlooked.
An equivalent example in health care could...