This entire issue of Critical Care Nursing Quarterly focuses on healthy workplaces in acute care hospitals. A social-ecological framework guides the choice of articles for the issue. An ecological framework recognizes the interplay between human beings and the socioenvironment in producing health and quality of life.1 Therefore, a comprehensive perspective requires that we look beyond the currently accepted definitions and policy statements for the creation of healthy work environments.

Shirey shares her research findings on authentic leadership, culture, and healthy workplaces, and Cornett and O'Rourke describe the essentiality of professional nursing practice in a healthy workplace. Ethics guides leaders and facilitators in working with groups to create the kind of workplace in which nurses want to work and an innovative framework for ethics in participatory action research is fully depicted. A surgical trauma ICU healthy workplace case study is described and improvements for quality of care and unit operations are discussed.

Nurse behaviors for healthy infection control practices are incorporated into the healthy workplace rubric and are critical for nurse and patient health and well-being. Teamwork's role in patient safety and healthy workplaces is described in detail by Clark. Furthermore, facility design, a key component of a healthy workplace, a place that promotes quality of care and a positive engaged staff, is promulgated by Stichler.

As issue editors, it is our hope that you, the reader, will find these articles stimulating and informative as you in your nursing role strive to promote healthy workplaces for all.

Mickey L. Parsons, PhD, MHA, RN, FAAN

Patricia A. Cornett, EdD, MS, RN

School of Nursing, University of Texas Health Science Center, San Antonio (Parsons)

Solucion International, Workforce and Workplace Capacity, Building Solutions, Canyon Lake, Texas (Cornett)

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