Guides on nursing

Research funded by Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) has demonstrated that an inadequate nursing staff directly correlates with adverse patient outcomes. And, several studies (L Quine, JS Murray, others) have revealed that bullying of and by nurses is a serious problem and that student-nurse bullying of faculty is increasing.

Two books being released by the Honor Society of Nursing, Sigma Theta Tau International (STTI), offer guidance on how to improve nurses’ working, teaching. and learning conditions. The books are:

Creating and Sustaining Civility in Nursing Education

Problems related to rudeness, insolence, discourteousness and disrespect can significantly disrupt a nurse’s work environment and interfere with a patient’s quality of care.

Creating and Sustaining Civility in Nursing Education is written by an author and lecturer known for her work in academic civility. Cynthia Clark reportedly shares stories, exemplars, and tools to keep the problem of incivility in nursing education from spiraling into aggression and jeopardising the learning and practice environment.

“Clark helps us realise how each of us is potentially part of the problem and all of us are part of the solution,” says Donna Hedges, Associate Director at the Baptist Health System School of Health Professions in San Antonio. “These are timely and truly constructive ways to manage these challenges.”

The Nurse Manager’s Guide to Innovative Staffing

For busy nurse managers, effectively analysing workforce, patient population, and organisation to determine proper staffing is daunting. Research traditionally has not gone much beyond calculating hours per patient day with bedside nurses.

The Nurse Manager’s Guide to Innovative Staffing provides easy-to-apply models, examples, and stories on how to obtain quality outcomes, staff satisfaction, and patient satisfaction and safety. The book’s author, Jennifer Mensik is the administrator for nursing and patient care at St Luke’s Health System in Idaho, US.

“The linkage of the achievement of optimal outcomes for patients, nurses and the organisation is masterfully done. Setting the stage based on nursing principles and scope of practice provides an evidence-driven approach to this work,” says Kathy Malloch, Clinical Consultant to API Healthcare Inc in Hartford, Wisconsin, US.

Both books are available for purchase at www.nursingknowledge.org