Health care in crisis : hospitals, nurses, and the consequences of policy change /

Health Care in Crisis is a useful text that posits that American obstetrical health care has reached a turning point. Morris, a sociologist at Texas A&M University, tracks how the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and other efforts to reform care and cut costs impact the maternity ward in one small hospital. When the nonprofit hospital was absorbed by a larger for-profit hospital and cost-cutting measures were implemented--and despite nurses' best efforts--the quality of nursing care appeared to drop in ways big and small. Abundant quotes from interviews and observations of nurses (characterized as either "process-oriented" or "patient-oriented") reflect the strains and implications of this transition. Morris's detailed focus on hardworking individuals at one hospital shows in microcosm the difficult strains that plague our health care system writ large; as such, this book stands as a cautionary tale. The book begins by introducing readers to the hospital and the obstetrical nursing staff; the second part contains nurses' stories in the pre- and post-takeover periods. Finally, the book takes a step back to analyze the policy changes that challenge health care now and in the future. The book would have benefited from a glossary of terms. Summing Up: Recommended. Lower-division undergraduates through professionals. --Renee Rose Shield, Brown University