ABSTRACT
The study of medical organizations providing artificial kidney care, reported on in this chapter, was originally designed to highlight the possible influence of the cultural characteristics of French and Belgian society on the social structure of the ward. To this end two such units were selected in Belgium, two in France. However, in the course of the investigation it became evident that neither the national culture, nor the technology, but rather the professional culture could be considered as a primary determinant of the structure of relationships in the kidney units.
