The Italian nurses said they found the overview quite helpful. In Italy we have just one level. The situation is changing in our hospitals-the length of time patients stay in the hospital is decreasing, so we have more critically ill patients. We need advanced practice nurses who can take care of their different needs with competence. The nurses thought that Americans' emphasis on research was another key to making care more effective.
Nothing is casual.
American nurses also play a more influential role in hospital operations, they said. We sometimes have meetings with physicians and others but it is not common. The nurses also liked the fact that American nurses have influence over the patient care environment, such as helping to decide what the Birthing Center and Ambulatory Surgery Center would look like. I think it's good for nurses to be able to decide not just about patient care but about other things that are important to patients. All Work and No Play . . .