Toward the patient-driven hospital.
Planetree, a nonprofit organization, was founded in 1978 to provide the public with health and medical information and to improve the quality of patient care. Planetree's 13-bed model medical/surgical unit, located in San Francisco's Pacific Presbyterian Medical Center, opened in July 1985. Its goal is to humanize patient care--to encourage patient and family involvement, personalize the patient-nurse interaction, create an optimal healing environment, provide nutritious and palatable food, maximize communication between professionals and patients, and include arts and entertainment in the healing process. Part One of this article (see Healthcare Forum, May/June 1986) described the unit's departures from the traditional hospital environment, changes in nursing practices, physician involvement, and cost effectiveness.
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