Everybody matters 2: promoting dignity in acute care through effective communication.

The Dignity in Care Project (DCP) aims to deepen understanding and develop practical interventions to promote dignified care in hospitals. A key feature is that "everybody matters" (a project slogan) and that promoting and sustaining dignity in acute care requires recognition and support for staff as well as for patients and their families. DCP is a nurse led research collaboration with Royal Free Hampstead Trust, Barnet and Chase Farm Hospitals Trust and City University. Practical interventions devised by the project are presented around three keythemes. Part 1 of this series explored the first theme, "maintaining identity: see who I am", and this second part examines the second theme, "creating community: connect with me". This recognises that in the act of caring, nurses receive as well as give. Dignified care has a reciprocity where both carer and patient/family give and receive, rather than simply involving a list of practical tasks done t o someone. The third and final part looks at "shared decision making involve me" (Bridges et al, 2009).