If you have visited a hospital, how would you describe the culture? As you have learned from the chapter, this is a loaded question because there are so many aspects to the term “culture.” Is the question referring to the socially learned and shared ideas, behaviors, or material components of the hospital or a combination of all of these? Your first thoughts may have been the sterile environment, physicians in white lab coats walking rapidly through the hallways, or the pensive looks on the family members’ faces as they sit huddled in a waiting room. All of these are aspects of culture and are representative of hospital culture. This is an outside perspective looking into the hospital. How would the answers to the question of describing the culture of a hospital differ if posed to nurses within the hospital? The responses among nurses would be diverse as well. Some would focus on the workplace culture and discuss issues related to job satisfaction and the hierarchy among hospital administrators, physicians, and nurses. Others might stress how patient safety and satisfaction are core issues within the hospital culture. Regardless of the perspective, there are many facets of hospital culture. For example, hospital emergency rooms create a unique subculture within healthcare with unique underlying beliefs, traditions, and values. In the study titled, The Culture of an Emergency Room: An Ethnographic Study, examples of cultural characteristics included concepts such as stress, fast paced, chaotic, teamwork, rewarding, and gratification. The next time you visit a hospital, consider conducting your own ethnographic study as you walk through the doors.