Nursing: a caring connection. Nurses are essential to healthy leadership teams

In 1996, the American Hospital Association and the Picker Institute, a national research firm, sponsored an extensive study, summarized in the report Eye on Patients. Focus groups and surveys explored public perceptions of health care and hospitals. The patients and their families reported relatively high rates of satisfaction when surveyed about their experiences, but they also reported serious concerns and worries, primarily with the way the "system" works (or fails to work) and with the changes taking place in health care. As the primary link between patients and a changing health care environment, nurses play a key role in affecting treatment outcomes and perception of the hospital experience.