Simply put the difference between acute care and ambulatory care, acute refers to inpatient care while ambulatory refers to outpatient care (Flavin, 2015). An acute setting is a medical facility in which patients remain under constant care. An ambulatory setting might be a non-medical facility like a school or nursing home, but it also includes clinics and medical settings that typically deal with non-emergency issues. As the costs of acute care services increase, patient care is being shifted to the outpatient setting resulting in increased ambulatory care visits. Nurses in an acute care setting are primarily responsible for creating the organization structure of care. Acute care nurses need to make decisions that jive with hospital protocols