Nursing Ethics in Everyday Practice
C. M. Ulrich (Ed.). Sigma Theta Tau International, Indianapolis, IN, 2012, 227 pages, paperbound. $39.95, ISBN: 978-1-9354-7650-4.
[black small square] Reviewed by:
Neil Coogan, MSN, MBA, RN-BC, CEN
Clinical Nurse Educator
Bay Pines VA Healthcare System
Bay Pines, Florida (email: [email protected])
The practice of nursing is relational. Within the context of a nurse's relationship to others lies the fundamental concept of ethics. When a major ethical dilemma arises, there is rarely an absolute right answer. In many such cases, the ethically correct cause of action is in doubt. It is the struggle with these gray areas of ethical concerns that can cause moral distress among nurses.
Editor Connie Ulrich and 14 contributing authors write about everyday ethics in nursing practice. Nurses may not always confront the dramatic ethical issue. Typically, they will face challenges such as peer-to-peer bullying, clinical incompetence, miscommunication, and poor teamwork that affect their work every day.
The purpose of this book is to address the "murkier ethical challenges nurses encounter in various clinical situations and assist them in finding reasonable solutions." The book serves as a guide for the nurse to use for purposeful interventions in reducing or resolving ethical concerns.
Part I of the book covers the general areas of ethical decision making in nursing and the various models of ethical decision making that nurses can use to reduce conflict. Part II offers some nursing considerations in those clinical areas such as critical care; long-term care; end-of-life care; and neonatal, pediatric, and psychiatric-mental health care where many of the more "classic" ethical problems arise. Each chapter begins with a bulleted preview called "Think About It!" Case studies are included to assist the reader in analyzing and reflecting on real-life examples. Some chapters contain "purpose exercises"-questions that the reader can consider and answer. At the end of each chapter is a complete reference list. Easy-to-read tables and diagrams in each chapter effectively list, explain, and summarize important facts and concepts.
Nursing Ethics in Everyday Practice is not a comprehensive treatment of ethics in nursing and health care. It offers some practical suggestions for nurses to ask the right questions, choose the better course of action, and seek additional resources in deciding about ethical issues and concerns. The book helps direct care nurses and nurse administrators toward achieving improved ethical competence and stronger moral courage. The book also will prove useful to nurse educators seeking a resource for educational programs on ethics.
Disclaimer: The author has disclosed that he has no significant relationships with, or financial interest in, any commercial companies pertaining to this review.
Transcultural Nursing Theory and Models: Application in Nursing Education, Practice, and Administration
P. L. Sagar. Springer, New York, NY, 2012, 167 pages, paperbound. $50, ISBN: 978-0-8261-0748-0.
[black small square] Reviewed by:
Michiele Schrieber, MSN, RN, CCM
Associate Chief Nurse
Veterans Health Care System of the Ozarks
Fayetteville, Arkansas
(email: [email protected])
This book outlines one transcultural nursing theory, four transcultural nursing models, and one transcultural nursing assessment guide. Each of those six transcultural nursing topics is reviewed in detail. Also, application of the topic in nursing education, nursing practice, and nursing administration is discussed. Each of the six transcultural nursing sections includes 15 NCLEX types of test questions with an associated answer key in the back of the book. Specific methods of application of each of the transcultural nursing topics are thoroughly covered and most often outlined in chart format. Case studies and role-playing exercises are also included for some of the topics. The appendices for the book include lesson plans for the transcultural nursing topics.
The author also includes a section outlining the future of transcultural nursing. Particularly interesting in this section is the implications of transcultural nursing education related to distance learning and those for nursing administration related to foreign nursing graduates in the workforce. The author concludes this section with a call to action for nurses to move from being cultural brokers to becoming cultural activists.
The consistency of the layout of each of the six transcultural nursing topics results in ease of location of information about each theory. The book is a comprehensive text on the topic of transcultural nursing. This book is recommended for nurse educators in the university setting as it includes ways to incorporate each transcultural nursing topic in nursing education, NCLEX type questions, lesson plans, case studies, and role-playing exercises.
Disclaimer: The author has disclosed that she has no significant relationships with, or financial interest in, any commercial companies pertaining to this review.
Nurse Residency Program Builder: Tools for a Successful New Graduate Program
J. Hansen, K. Varner, & A. F. English. HCPro, Inc., Danvers, MA, 2011, 174 pages, paperback. $99, ISBN-978-1-60146-819-2.
[black small square] Reviewed by:
Cynthia A. Standish, MSN, RN-BC
Nurse Educator
Captain James A. Lovell Federal Health
Care Center
Chicago, Illinois
(e-mail: [email protected]
Educator Jim Hansen with contributing authors Kendra Varner and Ashley F. English have compiled a text that will guide nurse leaders, educators, and those implementing a comprehensive nurse residency program (NRP). The new standard for hospitals hiring new graduate nurses, these programs aim to improve the transition from the academic to clinical setting. Increasingly, studies cite outcomes of increased recruitment, retention, and patient safety. Furthermore, NRPs are on the rise in other healthcare settings such as long-term care.
Initial chapters provide the historical perspective on the preparation to practice gap and make the financial case for nurse residency. Subsequent chapters comprise the foundations of competency, curriculum design, course structure outlines, critical thinking, and clinical and professional topics. The authors have integrated work of Patricia Benner, Donna Wright, Dorothy del Bueno, Benjamin Bloom, and others with whom the nurse educator is very familiar. Closing chapters support program process and nurse evaluation. Finally, the future of NRPs is considered, including the potential use of the transition-to-practice model of the National Council of State Boards of Nursing, a collaborative endeavor of education, regulation, and the healthcare industry supporting new graduate nurses' transition.
The authors do not address healthcare ethics and professional development activities such as performance improvement/evidence-based practice projects and scientific poster presentations that often are included in established NRPs. Bolder type and an easier-to-read font would have made a stronger visual impact in this book; readers who look for ease in reading may be dissatisfied.
These discrepancies are offset by the solid research underlying the text and the bibliography, which support planners in tailoring content to individual facility needs. In addition, the authors have provided a superb array of online, downloadable PowerPoint presentations, handouts, and even a program proposal template for presentations to stakeholders. These resources will reduce educator time and effort in program development and implementation. The workbook delivers a strong nurse residency "program builder," and readers will gain the knowledge and tools they require for successfully creating their own NRP.
Disclaimer: The author has disclosed that she has no significant relationships with, or financial interest in, any commercial companies pertaining to this review.