Professional Growth in Staff Development, Strategies for New and Experienced Educators
Arlene J. Lowenstein, Lynn Foord-May, and Jane C. Romano (Eds.). Jones & Bartlett Publishers, Sudbury, Massachusetts, 2009, 642 pages, paperback. $90.95. ISBN: 978-0-7637-4155-6
*Reviewed by:
Valerie Ventura, MSN, RN-BC
Education Coordinator II/Specialist
Medical/Surgical Team
Education and Development
Orlando Healthcare
Orlando, Florida
e-mail: (mailto:[email protected])
The purpose of this book is to provide the concepts, foundations, and teaching methodology to help multidisciplinary healthcare providers to be effective teachers. Both negative and positive cases are covered, which allow the reader to identify and reflect on education circumstances they have managed and how those situations could be managed in another way.
The Education Concepts and Foundations section provides an introduction to various theories related to education. According to the authors, many issues must be considered when planning and developing patient education for adult and pediatric learners. To assist healthcare providers to successfully plan and implement patient education, the theories presented have been strategically connected. This section prompts the reader to remember that patient and family poverty, cultural competency, and literacy must be taken into account to recognize and comprehend patient health beliefs and behaviors and to clearly communicate them. This section also examines the importance of realizing that the terms "compliance" and "adherence" are individual terms that do not have the same meaning.
The next section presents teaching methods that are built on the primary concepts presented in the prior section. The importance of sharing education in a manner that is best for the patient and family is stressed; typically, a combination of approaches is more effective. The chapters in this section cover the multiple teaching concepts, which should begin on admission and continue through discharge. Emphasis is placed on individualized patient care that requires healthcare providers to determine the patient's current knowledge by meticulously listening and carefully discrediting inaccurate sources. This section describes the various teaching tools that can be used to meet each patient's learning needs.
The third section pulls the education concepts and teaching methods together while addressing a variety of specific health conditions and health education. It begins with discussions of promoting health and wellness and facilitating behavioral change in groups of individuals, community, and wide-ranging populations. Each chapter focuses on a specific educational topic such as oral health, parenting, various disease processes and disorders, and cancer. Assorted adverse and beneficial case studies and strategies are discussed and analyzed throughout this section.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book and plan to use its many resources and concepts. The sections were differentiated appropriately, and each flowed easily into the next. The case studies built into each chapter are engaging. Healthcare educators should find it useful in their everyday practice. Multiple charts, lists, and bullet points support chapter information. A variety of health conditions may not apply to all healthcare educators. However, each chapter is titled appropriately, and key components are addressed. Extensive reference lists are provided at the end of each chapter.
Disclaimer: The author has disclosed that she has no significant relationships with, or financial interest in, any commercial companies pertaining to this review.
Nursing Leadership A Concise Encyclopedia
Harriet R. Feldman, G. Rumay Alexander, Angela Barron McBride, Martha J. Greenberg, Margaret L. McClure, Marilyn Jaffe-Ruiz, and Thomas D. Smith. Springer Publishing Company: New York, 2012, 424 pages, hardbound. US $99.00. ISBN: 978-0-8261-2176-9
*Reviewed by:
Abby C. Kurtz, EdD, RN-BC
Director of Nursing Education and
Research, Bronx-Lebanon Hospital Center
Bronx, NY
(e-mail: mailto:[email protected])
This encyclopedia was written as a reference for students, faculty, nurse managers, executives, and others on the "range of knowledge and roles encompassed by the term nursing leadership." The main body of the text consists of 242 entries and an additional 23 historical leadership figures of 10 thematic categories, some falling into more than one category. The thematic categories included characteristics of leaders; healthcare delivery standards and health policy; informatics and technology; leadership in practice, education, and research; major leaders; management and executive skills; organizational leadership; professional standards; quality outcomes; and theories and models. The thematic listing of entries was helpful as an organizing framework. Each of the entries was supported by references, and some were cross-referenced. This edition reflected recent government policy changes that affect the healthcare industry such as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act, the 2011 report on the Future of Nursing, and emerging trends and concepts in nursing leadership in practice and education, such as the Oregon Consortium for Nursing Education model. In addition, the section on historical nursing leaders provided brief biographical information of 23 nursing leaders focusing on important roles in and contributions to health care and organized nursing, specifically in administration, academia, research, and practice. Written by 146 experts and edited by a high caliber group of editors, this book is well organized, and narratives for the topics were succinctly presented.
As a member of the intended audience for the book, I was particularly interested in how this encyclopedia can support leadership competencies in a 21st century healthcare environment. Various topics would have merited inclusion including implementation science, managing operational failures, process improvement tools and strategies, performance management, time management, and key professional organizations such as the National Nursing Staff Development Organization, which is a professional organization that advances the specialty of nursing professional development for the enhancement of healthcare outcomes. I would also have liked to see an expanded view of staff development and resource development as they relate to nursing leadership. Nursing professional development is more than an orientation or initial training just as resource development should not be limited to fiscal management, recognizing that human resources are the most important resource of the organization. Both are ongoing human relations activities to engage staff in their personal and professional development. Thus, it is a critical responsibility for nursing leaders, not just for nurse educators. Nevertheless, this book is a relevant basic reference providing breadth to the term "nursing leadership." As a nurse executive and a teacher on nursing leadership in a healthcare institution, I would endorse this book as a handy, quick reference guide for nurse managers but would encourage them to review other references on the topics to be successful nurse leaders.
Disclaimer: The author has disclosed that she has no significant relationships with, or financial interest in, any commercial companies pertaining to this review.
A Nuts and Bolts Approach to Teaching Nursing (4th ed.)
Mary T. Quinn Griffin and Jeanne M. Novotny. Springer Publishing Company. 2011, 224 pages, paperback. $50.00. ISBN: 13-9780826141-545
*Reviewed by:
Deborah Giedosh, EdD, RN
Director of Nursing,
Alaska Career College, Anchorage
(e-mail: mailto:[email protected])
This text is a reductionist presentation of nursing education. It presents a diluted account of the art and science of education formulated into a cookbook approach to teaching aimed at beginning nurse educators and was, for this reviewer, a disappointment. Although the recipe for a successful teaching-learning environment is spelled out in an easy-to-access and interpret format; it is sadly a one-dimensional view of the role of the nurse educator.
The contents lead one to believe that, if these easy-to-follow steps are incorporated into the daily role of the nurse educator, a successful teaching-learning environment will result. As teaching is both an art and a science, the variability of the human factor as it is affected by both student and teacher is rarely highlighted, leading the reader to assume that teaching is a one-two-three step process and easily replicated. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Experienced master teachers always take into account the variability of each class and the variability of each individual within these classes that influence, to a lesser or greater degree, the what, why, and how of the learning process. If only teaching were as simple as placing the right nut on the right bolt; however, the human factor seems to always skew these attempts, making teaching an interesting, exhausting, and exhilarating experience.
Although "Nuts and Bolts" was filled with helpful hints and teaching tips, using it as a teaching cookbook is akin to asking Claude Monet to paint by numbers and expect his Water Lilies to look exactly as the Master intended.
Disclaimer: The author has disclosed that she has no significant relationships with, or financial interest in, any commercial companies pertaining to this review.