From health organization-centred standardization work process to a personhood-centred care process in an Italian nursing home: effectiveness on bowel elimination model.

Aims: An Italian nursing home's standardized work process redesign towards a personhood-centred nursing care is the focus of this study. The aim was to develop and implement a multi-method, personhood-centred, bowel elimination programme, to reduce the number of patients suffering from constipation and lessen the use of the invasive practises routinely adopted in nursing home (laxatives, enemas, rectal exploration).

Background: Although the importance of the application of personhood-centred care concepts in gerontology nursing has been widely recognized, the actual tendency of the Italian National Health System, which has few nursing resources for to the care of the older persons, is standardization.