Evaluation of a hospital work redesign: patient-focused care

The 1990s have seen a frenzy of work redesign in acute care hospitals/health systems. Much of the redesign work in acute care hospitals has centered on changing how nurses organize and deliver care to patients. But have we really determined that redesigning nursing care delivery does what we want? The author describes the introduction of patient-focused care at one tertiary care university teaching hospital and answers the following question: Is there a change in provider or patient outcomes when the nursing care delivery system is changed from primary/total patient care to patient-focused care?