Progressive patient care. A preliminary report.

Abstract

Increasingly frequent complaints in a 187-bed community hospital led to drastic reorganization of services on the basis of the amount of nursing care needed by the individual patients. Three units were developed at first: (1) special care unit for the seriously ill, (2) intermediate care unit, and (3) self-service unit for those able to answer their own bodily needs. Later a (4) continuation care unit, restoration-oriented, was developed for patients with such conditions as hemiplegia and cancer. In order to effect such changes it is necessary to involve the hospital trustees, administration, nurses, and medical staff from the beginning. The plan is referred to as progressive patient care. It must be kept flexible. Systematic comparisons with 17 other hospitals showed that it has substantial advantages as to the number of employees needed per hospital bed, the total patient cost per day, and the wages and salaries that can be paid to hospital personnel.