HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS REGISTER		Author Keyword(s) Vol Page [Advanced]

This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Submit a response Read responses to this article Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when eLetters are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this link to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Add article to my folders Download to citation manager Request Permissions Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by McKenna, H P Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by McKenna, H P Topic Collections Relevant Article

"Role drift" to unlicensed assistants: risks to quality and safety

Correspondence to:
Professor H P McKenna
Faculty of Life and Health Sciences, School of Health Sciences Nursing, School of Health Sciences, University of Ulster, Jordanstown BT37 0QB, UK; hp.mckenna@ulst.ac.uk

Keywords: health care assistants; nursing; role drift; patient safety

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

Earlier this week I went to my local health centre for a routine blood test. I noticed that the uniformed woman approaching me with the needle drawn had the words "Health Care Assistant" on her badge. This is the first time I have had a sample of blood taken by a person who had no formally recognised training and whose role was unlicensed, unregulated and unsupervised. I proffered my arm—not without a little trepidation. The experience led me to wonder how many other health care assistants were practising in the health service, how many other invasive and non-invasive duties were they routinely undertaking, and how many members of the public were unaware that they were receiving care and treatment from such personnel. The answers to these questions raise further questions concerning quality and safety.

Modern health care is complex and hospitalised patients are often in the acute stage . . . [Full text of this article]

Relevant Article

Improving the quality of health care: using international collaboration to inform guideline programmes by founding the Guidelines International Network (G-I-N)

G Ollenschläger, C Marshall, S Qureshi, K Rosenbrand, J Burgers, M Mäkelä, J Slutsky for the Board of Trustees 2002, Guidelines International Network
Qual. Saf. Health Care 2004 13: 455-460. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]