[Resident-oriented nursing care in nursing homes. Testing of a measuring tool].

The findings of an investigation of a patient oriented nursing system in nursing homes are reported in this article. The direct translation of the Dutch word for this type of nursing system is 'Integrated Nursing'. Central to this study are the two premises of Integrated Nursing, namely patient allocation and working in a systemical manner, which is similar to the nursing process. The aim of this study was to determine the validity and reliability of an instrument which was developed to measure the degree of Integrated Nursing in nursing homes. For this purpose, an existing instrument designed for use in general hospitals was modified for use with nursing homes. The modified instrument was tested in two nursing homes: one with a task-oriented nursing system and the other with Integrated Nursing. The instrument was used in the form of both questions and observations. It was concluded that the modified instrument which consists of a Patient Allocation SubScale and a Nursing Process SubScale was reliable and valid.