In the January/February 2007 preceptorship column, then co-author Mary Schoessler and I offered our recommendations for books that we found helpful in our educational practice. Recommending a book can be risky. It is like suggesting a restaurant or movie to a friend or family member. The recommendation can be well received or categorically rejected.
In preparing for this issue's column, I came across some notes scribbled on an aged paper with the question, "How might you think differently ten years from now as a result of the books you have read and the words you have written and spoken?". What are the chances of that! Since that column 10 years ago, I completed my doctorate and have become even more committed to developing and mentoring our newest colleagues and promoting the contributions of the clinical nurse. The books I am recommending in this two-part series have helped me work toward that goal[horizontal ellipsis]they have challenged my thinking, broadened my world view, or made me weep. I hope each book will be embraced with the affection in which it is offered. None of them have an educational focus per se, but each, I believe, can expand your horizons as an educator, nurse, and human being. Each contains a subtle theme[horizontal ellipsis]the precious use of time.
Authors Mary Koloroutis and Michael Trout have distilled their approach to relationship-centered care in their book See Me as a Person (Koloroutis & Trout, 2012). Their description of sojourning with patients is both compelling and lyrical. They masterfully use the written word to craft sentences that convey the power of connection, presence, and authenticity. This book is a must read for every practicing clinical nurse, educator, and nurse executive. This seven-chapter, 386-page book contains stories, observations, and dialogue that beckon the reader to enter into patients' lives as compassionate strangers and to linger, listen, and learn. "Both compassion and empathy reflect the courage it takes to enter into and stay present with another person's painful experience without retreating or trying to change or fix it. In our work, there is curing (which is sometimes possible), and there is healing (which is almost always possible to some degree). We cure diseases, not people" (Koloroutis & Trout, 2012, p. 69). This book will prompt you to reflect on your practice and contemplate ways to use empathy with your patients as well as your colleagues. The time you spend interacting with patients and families will be more purposeful and gratifying because of the wisdom contained in this book.
Nursing luminaries Jane Barnsteiner, Joann Disch, and Mary K. Walton begin each of the 25 chapters of their book, Person and Family Centered Care (Barnsteiner, Disch, & Walton, 2014), with a case study that draws the reader in with its familiarity. Throughout the book, expert clinicians pose scenarios, provide research, and offer pragmatic recommendations that the reader can use to create or enhance person- and family-centered care.
An important message articulated throughout the book is that all healthcare providers and, most notably, nurses must broaden their concept of who are the experts in the provision of person- and family-centered care and where that care is provided. "Healthcare delivery is still largely predicated on a medical model of care delivery that is physician-directed, acuity oriented and hospital based" (Barnsteiner et al., 2014, p. 9). This book challenges the reader to become a disruptive innovator and to become conversant with the political, economic, and social forces influencing health care today. Person- and family-centered care can be provided when nurses recognize that it is patients and their loved ones who are the experts in their own lives and that care will be delivered in places where society plays, prays, works, and learns, not only in hospitals, clinics, or private homes.
An ensemble of experts share their collective wisdom in the book, Appreciative Inquiry in Healthcare: Positive Questions to Bring out the Best (May et al., 2011). They offer pragmatic rationale for the use of appreciative inquiry (AI) in health care. They suggest that the benefits of AI include improved patient care, stronger interprofessional teams, increased productivity, and enhanced learning. This book contains a myriad of questions that can be adapted for any clinical situation. The 128-page, 15-chapter book is divided into three sections, with each section focusing on different recipients of AI: patients, colleagues, and organizations. Sample chapters include keeping the patient at the heart of what we do, helping patients deal with loss and grief, fostering patients' health, working together in teams, hiring and keeping the best employees, ensuring organizational excellence, and showing effective leadership.
Each chapter begins with a brief paragraph that frames the scenario for the AI questions that are offered. In the scenario that explores the use of time in interacting with patients, the reader is asked to recall a time when a patient interaction was gratifying and that there was not a feeling of being rushed or interrupted. A few questions for this scenario include as follows: "Was there something particular about this encounter that made the quality of the moment shared together even more important? If so, what was it? How were you able to temporarily forget all of the outside distractions? What strategies allowed you to give the patient a sense of being heard while you maintained necessary efficiency?" (May et al., 2011, p. 23). This book is an excellent resource to help refine AI skills.
Originals is a captivating book by Adam Grant. As the title implies, the book is dedicated to sharing thought-provoking stories of individuals who made substantial contributions to the world by being unconventional. "The people who chose to champion originality are the ones who propel us forward[horizontal ellipsis]they feel the same fear, the same doubt as the rest of us. What sets them apart is that they take action anyway. They know in their hearts that failing would yield less regret than failing to try" (Grant, 2016, p. 28). Grant devotes an entire chapter to the benefits of procrastination and highlights the works of Leonardo da Vinci and Martin Luther King as examples of taking time to allow the creative process to distill.
In another novel anecdote, Grant offers research to suggest that the choice of Internet browser by perspective employees may identify candidates who will be more innovative as well as remain in their jobs 15% longer. The research showed that the employees who used a different browser than the one that is preinstalled on their computer approached their work differently and were more willing to engage in problem solving than those who accepted the default browser (Grant, 2016, p. 5). This story is only one of the many, that stays with you after reading it. Originals is filled with provocative ideas and captivating stories that dispel myths about what constitutes an original if one uses the word as an adjective or a noun.
We live in a frenetic world. In health care, we are often asked to do more with less. In the book, Pause, by Kevin Cashman (2012), the author describes the importance of taking time to contemplate in an intentionally deliberate way the actions we want to take. Taking time to pause is an investment in one's self for the betterment of all. Cashman offers a "value creating methodology" that encourages deeper self-reflection, authentic listening, greater openness to diverse thinking, and compelling questions.
Cashman concludes each chapter with pause points, questions that reinforce the concepts presented in the book. He recommends seven pause practices that will enhance personal leadership. These practices include be on purpose, question and listen, risk experimentation, reflect and synthesize, consider inside-out and outside-in dynamics, foster generativity, and be authentic. Cashman purports that "in today's world innovation is the new leadership" (Cashman, 2012, p. 111). Pause is a great book to sit down with and linger over each word.
Henry Miller (n.d.), the esteemed writer, offered this thought on the reading and sharing of books, "A book is not only a friend; it makes friends for you. When you have possessed a book with mind and spirit, you are enriched. But when you pass it on you are enriched threefold." Happy reading, my friends!
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