section_path: Departments or wards
section_name: Departments or wards
paragraph_text: Departments or wards
  
  A hospital contains one or more wards that house hospital beds for inpatients. It may also have acute services such as an emergency department, operating theatre, and intensive care unit, as well as a range of medical specialty departments. A well-equipped hospital may be classified as a trauma center. They may also have other services such as a hospital pharmacy, radiology, pathology, and medical laboratories. Some hospitals have outpatient departments such as behavioral health services, dentistry, and rehabilitation services.
  
  A hospital may also have a department of nursing, headed by a chief nursing officer or director of nursing. This department is responsible for the administration of professional nursing practice, research, and policy for the hospital.
  
  Many units have both a nursing and a medical director that serve as administrators for their respective disciplines within that unit. For example, within an intensive care nursery, a medical director is responsible for physicians and medical care, while the nursing manager is responsible for all the nurses and nursing care.
  
  Support units may include a medical records department, release of information department, technical support, clinical engineering, facilities management, plant operations, dining services, and security departments.