Abstract
This is the story of an effort by an anthropologist to use behavioral science to help the administrative staff members of the Department of Nursing Services in a university medical center improve their ways of working. The account begins with the simple request from the director of nursing services for a discussion leader to help them review their operations. It leads to a broader research project based on observation; copes with conflicts which arose because of differences in the viewpoints of the two sets of participants; shows how the new, temporary intersystem arose and functioned; and identifies the critical moment when direction shifted from the research-oriented behavioral scientist to the action-oriented administrator. It provides a thoughtful appraisal of the consultant role at each stage from the first request to the termination of the project.
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