Professional Issues in Nursing: Challenges and Opportunities

by Carol Huston

Overview

Reflecting both enduring professional considerations and the most pressing contemporary issues facing the nursing profession, Professional Issues in Nursing: Challenges and Opportunities, 6th Edition, equips students with proven, expert insight essential to success in today’s nursing practice. This straightforward, engaging text challenges students to critically analyze issues and form their own assessments about the state of nursing and their role as a professional nurse, building the critical thinking and clinical judgment to effectively manage workplace considerations, workforce issues, legal and ethical concerns, nursing education challenges, and issues related to professional power and advancing the nursing profession. 
 
New and updated content throughout the 6th Edition instills a practical understanding of emerging trends in healthcare, including nursing implications of the COVID-19 pandemic as well as the latest considerations in workplace safety, changing population demographics and nursing workforce projections, global perspectives on healthcare, and the rapidly evolving healthcare environment. 
 
 

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781975175610
Publisher:	LWW
Publication date:	04/26/2022
Edition description:	Sixth, North American Edition
Pages:	424
Sales rank:	509,625
Product dimensions:	7.00(w) x 9.00(h) x (d)

Table of Contents

I. Furthering the Profession

Chapter 1- Entry into Practice: The Debate Rages On

Chapter 2- Evidence Based Practice  

Chapter 3-  21st Century Leadership Challenges for Nurses

Chapter 4- Using Simulation to Teach Nurses  

 

II. Workforce Issues

Chapter 5 –The Current Nursing Shortage- Causes, Consequences, and Solutions  

Chapter 6- Importing Foreign Nurses 

Chapter 7- Unlicensed Assistive Personnel and the Registered Nurse  

Chapter 8- Socialization and Mentoring  

Chapter 9- Diversity in the Nursing Workforce  

Chapter 10- Residencies for New Graduate Nurses As a Transition to Practice

 

III. Workplace Issues

Chapter 11- Mandatory Minimum Staffing Ratios: Are They Working?

Chapter 12- Mandatory Overtime in Nursing: How Much?  How Often?  

Chapter 13- Violence in Nursing: The Expectations and the Reality  

Chapter 14- Technology in the Health Care Workplace: Benefits, Limitations, and Challenges  

Chapter 15- Medical Errors: An Ongoing Threat to Quality Health Care  

 

IV. Legal and Ethical Issues

Chapter 16- Whistleblowing in Nursing Chapter 17- Impaired Nursing Practice – What Are We Doing About It?  

Chapter 18- Collective Bargaining and the Professional Nurse  

Chapter 19- Assuring Provider Competency through Licensure, Continuing Education, and Certification  

 

V. Professional Power

Chapter 20- The Nursing Profession’s Historic Struggle to Increase Its Power Base  

Chapter 21- Professional Identity and Image  

Chapter 22- Advanced Practice Nursing: Challenges of Role Definition, Recognition, and Reimbursement  

Chapter 23- Nursing and Public Policy: The Need for Healthcare Reform  

Chapter 24- Nursing’s Professional Associations

Editorial Reviews

Reviewer: Martha Scheckel, PhD, RN (The Catholic University of America)
Description: This book provides an exceptional overview of contemporary issues and trends in nursing practice. Unique structural elements include the use of color for ease of reading, boxes with items such as discussion points, "consider this," photos inclusive of diversity, and more. The online resource includes student and instructor resources that enhance the content. The previous edition was published in 2020.
Purpose: According to the author, the purpose of the book is to provide readers with knowledge about professional issues that are not found in typical trends and issues in nursing textbooks. This is a worthy objective as it demonstrates the heart of nursing practice in contemporary times. The print material is very well presented. The online content provides accessible and quality material to enhance the print material. The author and contributors meet the book's objectives by clearly presenting topics that are relevant and timely.
Audience: The book is for undergraduate and graduate students. However, overall, the book is best suited to undergraduate students, and especially RN-BSN students who will have a rich context for the content. The book is useful for graduate students insofar as it offers the most relevant topics for review, with reference or access to higher level readings to advance knowledge in nursing practice. The author and chapter contributors are well known and respected in nursing based on credentials and contributions to the discipline.
Features: The book covers true issues of the times in nursing practice that enable or prevent quality nursing practice. The chapters are very well organized, clearly written, and engaging through breaking up content, use of boxes, and color. There is a great mix of text, photos, boxes, and lists that promote interaction with the content. The print book needs more examples to make the content come alive. Case studies are available in the online resource but would be useful in the print source to foster increased engagement.
Assessment: I appreciate the author's attention to topics that may not exist in other issues and trends books. This is important as the topics uncover the essence of nursing practice to prepare nurses to be practice-ready. The new edition is justified, especially because of new content related to the pandemic.

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