I Wasn't Strong Like This When I Started Out: True Stories of Becoming a Nurse


Book Description

This collection of true narratives reflects the dynamism and diversity of nurses, who provide the first vital line of patient care. Here, nurses remember their first "sticks," first births, and first deaths, and reflect on what gets them though long, demanding shifts, and keeps them in the profession. The stories reveal many voices from nurses at different stages of their careers: One nurse-in-training longs to be trusted with more "important" procedures, while another questions her ability to care for nursing home residents. An efficient young emergency room nurse finds his life and career irrevocably changed by a car accident. A nurse practitioner wonders whether she has violated professional boundaries in her care for a homeless man with AIDS, and a home care case manager is the sole attendee at a funeral for one of her patients. What connects these stories is the passion and strength of the writers, who struggle against burnout and bureaucracy to serve their patients with skill, empathy, and strength.




The Call of Nursing


Book Description

The Call of Nursing is not a typical book about nurses. It takes us behind the curtain of silence that often hangs between us – the patients who rely on the health care system – and the women and men who form the backbone of that system, and who are entrusted with our intimate care. It lets us hear why nurses today do what they do, and it allows those nurses to show us, in their own words, what has mattered most to them in their professional careers. The twenty-three intimate self-portraits in The Call of Nursing help us see more clearly the kinds of challenges nurses face and accept on a routine basis, and offer a rare glimpse into lives of women and men committed to care and service. Foreword Magazine 2013 Book of the Year Finalist (Education).




The Future of Nursing 2020-2030


Book Description

The decade ahead will test the nation's nearly 4 million nurses in new and complex ways. Nurses live and work at the intersection of health, education, and communities. Nurses work in a wide array of settings and practice at a range of professional levels. They are often the first and most frequent line of contact with people of all backgrounds and experiences seeking care and they represent the largest of the health care professions. A nation cannot fully thrive until everyone - no matter who they are, where they live, or how much money they make - can live their healthiest possible life, and helping people live their healthiest life is and has always been the essential role of nurses. Nurses have a critical role to play in achieving the goal of health equity, but they need robust education, supportive work environments, and autonomy. Accordingly, at the request of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, on behalf of the National Academy of Medicine, an ad hoc committee under the auspices of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine conducted a study aimed at envisioning and charting a path forward for the nursing profession to help reduce inequities in people's ability to achieve their full health potential. The ultimate goal is the achievement of health equity in the United States built on strengthened nursing capacity and expertise. By leveraging these attributes, nursing will help to create and contribute comprehensively to equitable public health and health care systems that are designed to work for everyone. The Future of Nursing 2020-2030: Charting a Path to Achieve Health Equity explores how nurses can work to reduce health disparities and promote equity, while keeping costs at bay, utilizing technology, and maintaining patient and family-focused care into 2030. This work builds on the foundation set out by The Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing Health (2011) report.




Nursing Knowledge


Book Description

Nurses who conduct research have a longstanding interest in questions of nursing knowledge. Nursing Knowledge is a clear and well-informed exposition of the philosophical background to nursing theory and research. Nursing Knowledge answers such fundamental questions as: How is nursing theory related to nursing practice? What are the core elements of nursing knowledge? What makes nursing research distinctive as nursing research? It examines the history of the philosophical debates within nursing, critiques the arguments, explains the implications and sets out to rethink the philosophical foundation of nursing science. Nursing Knowledge begins with philosophical problems that arise within nursing science. It then considers various solutions with the help of philosophical ideas arguingargues that nurses ought to adopt certain philosophical positions because they are the best solutions to the problems that nurses encounter. The book argues claims that the nursing standpoint has the potential to disclose a more complete understanding of human health than the common disease-and-dysfunction views. Because of the relationship to practice, nursing science may freely draw theory from other disciplines and nursing practice unifies nursing research. By redefining theory and philosophy,With a new philosophical perspective on nursing science, the so-called relevance gap between nursing theory and practice can be closed. The final chapter of the book ‘redraws the map’, to create a new picture of nursing science based on the following principles: Problems of practice should guide nursing research Practice and theory are dynamically related Theory research must provide the knowledge base necessary for nurse interventions, training, patient education, etc. Nursing research should develop midrange theories and its results are nursing theory is strengthened when it uses theories confirmed by is integrated with other disciplines Key features Clear and accessibly written Accurate and philosophically well-informed, Discusses philosophical problems in contexts familiar to nurses Systematically examines the philosophical issues involved in nursing research Examines epistemology (how we know what we know), theory development, and the philosophical foundations of scientific methodology. Develops a new model of nursing knowledge Dr. Mark Risjord is Associate Professor in Philosophy at Emory University, and has a faculty appointment in the Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing. His main research areas have been in the philosophy of social science and the philosophy of medicine. He was invited to has been teaching philosophy of science and theory development in the new PhD program in the Nell Hodgson School of Nursing at Emory University insince 1999. He has been awarded two competitive teaching prizes: Emory Williams Distinguished Teaching Award (2004) and the Excellence in Teaching Award (1997). He is presently serving as the Masse-Martin/NEH Distinguished Teaching Chair (2006-2010).




Nursing in Contemporary Society


Book Description

This book takes a comprehensive and critical look at current issues and trends in nursing, and examines future health care and market place consumer demands—as they relate to success in professional practice. It discusses the ever-accelerating pace of change occurring in the field, and features a broad spectrum of topics that highlight the importance of accountability, responsibility, and critical decision making for nurses of the 21st century. KEY TOPICS Chapter topics present an overview of the evolution of the image, education, knowledge, and professional organization of nurses; discuss professional values and core competencies, the search for employment, nursing issue management and leadership, future challenges, and much more. For new graduates and experienced nurses seeking information about the most contemporary concerns of their field.




Essentials of Correctional Nursing


Book Description

"Essentials of Correctional Nursing is the first new and comprehensive text about this growing field to bepublished in the last decade. Fortunately, the editors have done a great job in all respects...This book should be required reading for all medical practitioners and administrators working in jails or prisons. It certainly belongs on the shelf of every nurse, physician, ancillary healthcare professional and corrections administrator."--Corhealth (The Newsletter of the American Correctional Health Services Association) "I highly recommend Essentials of Correctional Nursing, by Lorry Schoenly, PhD, RN, CCHP-RN andCatherine M. Knox, MN, RN, CCHP-RN, editors. This long-awaited book, dedicated to the professionalspecialty of correctional nursing, is not just a ìgood read,î it is one of ìthose booksî that stays on your desk and may never make it to the bookshelf."--American Jails "Correctional nursing has minimal published texts to support, educate, and provide ongoing bestpractices in this specialty. Schoenly and Knox have successfully met those needs with Essentialsof Correctional Nursing."--Journal of Correctional Health Care Nurses have been described as the backbone of correctional health care. Yet the complex challenges of caring for this disenfranchised population are many. Ethical dilemmas around issues of patient privacy and self-determination abound, and the ability to adhere to the central tenet of nursing, the concept of caring, is often compromised. Essentials of Correctional Nursing supports correctional nurses by providing a comprehensive body of current, evidence-based knowledge about the best practices to deliver optimal nursing care to this population. It describes how nurses can apply their knowledge and skills to assess the full range of health conditions presented by incarcerated individuals and determine the urgency and priority of requisite care. The book describes the unique health needs and corresponding care for juveniles, women, and individuals at the end of life. Chapters are devoted to nursing care for patients with chronic disease, infectious disease, mental illness, or pain, or who are in withdrawal from drugs or alcohol. Chapters addressing health screening, medical emergencies, sick call, and dental care describe how nurses identify, respond to, and manage these health care concerns in the correctional setting. The Essentials of Correctional Nursing was written and reviewed by experienced correctional nurses with thousands of hours of experience. American Nurses Association standards are woven throughout the text, which provide the information needed by nurses studying for certification exams in correctional nursing. The text will also be of value to nurses working in such settings as emergency departments, specialty clinics, hospitals, psychiatric treatment units, community health clinics, substance abuse treatment programs, and long-term care settings, where they may encounter patients who are currently or have previously been incarcerated. Key Features: Addresses legal and ethical issues surrounding correctional nursing Covers common inmate-patient health care concerns and diseases Discusses the unique health needs of juveniles, women, and individuals at the end of life Describes how nurses can safely navigate the correctional environment to create a therapeutic alliance with patients Provides information about health screening, medical emergencies, sick call, and dental care Serves as a core resource in the preparation for correctional nursing certification exams




Empire of Care


Book Description

In western countries, including the United States, foreign-trained nurses constitute a crucial labor supply. Far and away the largest number of these nurses come from the Philippines. Why is it that a developing nation with a comparatively greater need for trained medical professionals sends so many of its nurses to work in wealthier countries? Catherine Ceniza Choy engages this question through an examination of the unique relationship between the professionalization of nursing and the twentieth-century migration of Filipinos to the United States. The first book-length study of the history of Filipino nurses in the United States, Empire of Care brings to the fore the complicated connections among nursing, American colonialism, and the racialization of Filipinos. Choy conducted extensive interviews with Filipino nurses in New York City and spoke with leading Filipino nurses across the United States. She combines their perspectives with various others—including those of Philippine and American government and health officials—to demonstrate how the desire of Filipino nurses to migrate abroad cannot be reduced to economic logic, but must instead be understood as a fundamentally transnational process. She argues that the origins of Filipino nurse migrations do not lie in the Philippines' independence in 1946 or the relaxation of U.S. immigration rules in 1965, but rather in the creation of an Americanized hospital training system during the period of early-twentieth-century colonial rule. Choy challenges celebratory narratives regarding professional migrants’ mobility by analyzing the scapegoating of Filipino nurses during difficult political times, the absence of professional solidarity between Filipino and American nurses, and the exploitation of foreign-trained nurses through temporary work visas. She shows how the culture of American imperialism persists today, continuing to shape the reception of Filipino nurses in the United States.




Diseases and Disorders


Book Description

Everything you need to know about caring for patients—in one portable "must have" handbook! Clear, but comprehensive discussions of pathophysiology, with rationales in the medications and laboratory sections, explain the scientific basis for the nursing care.




The Future of the Nursing Workforce in the United States


Book Description

The Future of the Nursing Workforce in the United States: Data, Trends and Implications provides a timely, comprehensive, and integrated body of data supported by rich discussion of the forces shaping the nursing workforce in the US. Using plain, jargon free language, the book identifies and describes the key changes in the current nursing workforce and provide insights about what is likely to develop in the future. The Future of the Nursing Workforce offers an in-depth discussion of specific policy options to help employers, educators, and policymakers design and implement actions aimed at strengthening the current and future RN workforce. The only book of its kind, this renowned author team presents extensive data, exhibits and tables on the nurse labor market, how the composition of the workforce is evolving, changes occurring in the work environment where nurses practice their profession, and on the publics opinion of the nursing profession.




The Future of Nursing


Book Description

The Future of Nursing explores how nurses' roles, responsibilities, and education should change significantly to meet the increased demand for care that will be created by health care reform and to advance improvements in America's increasingly complex health system. At more than 3 million in number, nurses make up the single largest segment of the health care work force. They also spend the greatest amount of time in delivering patient care as a profession. Nurses therefore have valuable insights and unique abilities to contribute as partners with other health care professionals in improving the quality and safety of care as envisioned in the Affordable Care Act (ACA) enacted this year. Nurses should be fully engaged with other health professionals and assume leadership roles in redesigning care in the United States. To ensure its members are well-prepared, the profession should institute residency training for nurses, increase the percentage of nurses who attain a bachelor's degree to 80 percent by 2020, and double the number who pursue doctorates. Furthermore, regulatory and institutional obstacles-including limits on nurses' scope of practice-should be removed so that the health system can reap the full benefit of nurses' training, skills, and knowledge in patient care. In this book, the Institute of Medicine makes recommendations for an action-oriented blueprint for the future of nursing.