Mobilizing nursing skills *

The author argues that the practice of nursing should be based on the ‘nursing model’ related to care, not the ‘medical model’ related to cure. Using the nursing model entails making an assessment of the patient's needs and an individualized nursing care plan to meet them. It is conceded that the historical development of nursing practice as a series of stereotyped, ritualized activities within a hierarchical profession militates against implementing the nursing model; but the author illustrates how the Royal Marsden Hospital, a specialist hospital for the treatment of cancer patients, has innovated and developed the concept, as well as creating specialist roles for nurses who maintain continuity of patient care from the first appointment in the hospital's outpatients’ clinic through to his after‐care following his discharge home.