Nursing development units: an opportunity for evaluation.

The nursing development unit movement has recently generated a lot of financial and professional interest. This is demonstrated by the large financial investment by the Department of Health, England, and the growing number of papers in the nursing literature. The benefits of these units, however, are not as well documented. This paper seeks to contribute to the debate by: reviewing some of this literature and putting the movement in a historical perspective; discussing the purposes of the units; critically examining the characteristics of such units; evaluating their effectiveness; and suggesting a way forward for the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]