Passage 17

Nursing at Beth Israel Hospital produces the best patient care possible.If we are to solve the nursing shortage, hospital administration and doctors everywhere would do well to followBeth Israel's example.

At Beth Israel each patient assigned to a primary nurse who visits at length with the patient and constructs a full—scale health account that covers everything from his medical history to his emotional state.Then she writes a care plan centered on the patient's illness but which also includes everything else that is necessary.

The primary nurse stays with the patient through his hospitalization,keeping track with his progress and seeking further advice from his doctor.If a patient at Beth'Israel is not responding to treatment, it is not uncommon for his nurse to propose another approach to his doctor.What the doctor at Beth Israel has in the primary nurse is a true colleague.

Nursing at Beth Israel also involves a decentralized nursing administration every floor,every unit is a self — contained organization. There are nurse—managers instead of head nurses; in addition to their medical duties they do all their own hiring and dismissing, employee advising,and they make salary recommendations.Each unit's nurses decide among themselves who will work what shifts and when.Beth Israel's nurse—in—chief ranks as an equal with vice presidents of the hospital.She also is a member of the

Medical Executive Committee, which in most hospitals include only doctors.

1. Which of the following best characterizes the main feature of the nursing system at Beth Israel Hospital?

   1. The doctor gets more active professional support from the primary nurse.

   2. Each patient is taken care of by a primary nurse day andnight.

   3. The primary nurse writes care plans for every patient.

   4. The primary nurse keeps records of the patient's health conditions every day.

2. It can be inferred from the passage that .

   1. compared with other hospitals nurses at Beth Israel Hospital are more patient

   2. in most liospitals patient care is inadequate from the professional point of view

   3. in most hospitals nurses get low salaries

   4. compared with other hospitals nurses have to work longer hours at Beth Israel Hospital

3. A primary nurse can propose a different approach of treatment when .

   1. the present one is refused by the patient

   2. the patient complains about the present one

   3. the present one proves to be ineffective

   4. the patient is found unwilling to cooperate

4. The main difference between a nurse—manager and a head nurse is that the former .

   1. is a member of the Medical Executive Committee of the hospital

   2. has to arrange the work shifts of the unit's nurses

   3. can make decisions concerning the medical treatment of a patient

   4. has full responsibility in the administration of the unit's

      nurese

5. The author's attitude towards the nursing system at Beth Is—rael Hospital is .

   1. negative B) neutral

C) critical D) positive