“Individualised care” from patients’, nurses’ and relatives’ perspective—a review of the literature

This paper provides an overview of the empirical research literature on individualised care. It offers a description of the methods that have been used in studies of individualised care over the years, and then discusses the meaning and realisation of individualised care from patients’, nurses’ and relatives’ points of view in order to highlight needs for further research. The review focuses on empirical articles retrieved from the MEDLINE database published between 1973 and June 1999. It draws attention to the complexity of individualised care, which at first sight may look like a relatively straightforward nursing activity. It is shown that a wide range of methods have been used to study individualised care in the current literature. There is a lack of research where patients’ experiences of the individuality of care in hospital settings are concerned.