The resource dependence of a county nursing department: efforts to thrive in the 1980s.

This case study documents analysis and planning in a contemporary public health nursing organization using resource dependence organizational theory. Several internal and external factors affect the organization and its relationships with its resources. We attempted to use knowledge of the environment-organization relationship in several ways. Three examples from inside and outside the county system demonstrate opportunities for nursing to decrease the organization's traditional resource dependence and expand its base of funding and influence. Application of this theory can assist other organizations to adapt and survive in this era of diminishing health care resources.