Measurement of Nursing Outcomes (2nd edition), edited by Carolyn Feher Waltz and Louise Sherman Jenkins. New York, Springier Publishing Company, 2001. 404 pages, hardcover, $62.95.

This text is divided into four distinct parts; part one (fourteen chapters) is Measuring Clinical Decision Making and Performance in Education and Practice; part two (seven chapters) is Measuring Educational Outcomes; part three(seven chapters) is Measuring Professionalism and part four (six chapters) is Research and Evaluation. There are 51 contributors from many different institutions spread geographically over much of the nation. For those with a strong penchant for data for action, in any of the above mentioned categories, this text is a very useful reference. The rapid growth of science will require more precise formulation for action by all of the various members of the entire heath care team. Thus, nurses will have to keep apace with this very strong movement. It is an ethical as well as a scientific responsibility to absorb new knowledge as quickly as possible and to utilize it to increase the quality of care.

With the wide variation in the preparation of nurses, as compared to the other health professions, nurses may find the section on measuring educational outcomes as a useful concept to employ to deliver quality care as well as to cooperate meaningfully with members of the other professions.

The other sections are useful in stimulating nurses to move procedural orientation to a much more scientific approach. It also aids in communicating more scientifically with the other professions that are participating in providing care.