‘I mean, obviously you're using your discretion’: Nurses Use of Discretion in Policy Implementation

Hoyle, Louise

Abstract

This article explores the application of Lipsky’s (1980) notion of street-level bureaucracy for nursing staff. This article aims to demonstrate the importance of discretion within the day-to-day work of front-line nursing staff, which is similar to that of other public-sector workers. The findings are from an exploratory case study, based within a Scottish inner city hospital. It specifically focuses on how nurses can be seen to be street-level bureaucrats and how front-line nursing staff interpret policy. Discretion can be seen to be a significant feature within the front-line practice of nursing staff and this may have implications for the implementation of health policy.

Citation

Hoyle, L. (2014). ‘I mean, obviously you're using your discretion’: Nurses Use of Discretion in Policy Implementation. Social Policy and Society, 13(2), 189-202. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1474746413000316

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Online Publication Date: Jul 22, 2013
• Publication Date: 2014-04
• Deposit Date: Feb 12, 2015
• Publicly Available Date: Feb 12, 2015
• Print ISSN: 1474-7464
• Electronic ISSN: 1475-3073
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 13
• Issue: 2
• Pages: 189-202
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S1474746413000316
• Keywords: Discretion; Health policy; Lipsky; Nursing; Policy implementation; Street-level bureaucracy
• Public URL: http://researchrepository.napier.ac.uk/id/eprint/7554
• Publisher URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S1474746413000316