The Nursing Profession: Development, Challenges, and Opportunities

The Nursing Profession: Development, Challenges, and Opportunities Edited by Diana J. Mason, Stephen L. Isaacs, and David C. Colby (San Francisco, CA: Jossey Bass, 2011) (403 pages, $75.00 paper)Published in 2011, this text is the fifth book in the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) Health Policy Series. The foreword by Risa Lavizzo-Mourey, president and CEO of the RWJF suggests use of this book as a companion to the 2010 "Future of Nursing" report from the Institute of Medicine (IOM) and RWJF collaborative. Susan Hassmiller, RWJF Special Advisor on Nursing and Director of the Initiative on the Future of Nursing, states in the preface that the IOM committee working on the report was heavily influenced by the best thinkers of those who study and practice nursing, including authors of the articles reprinted in this book. The Nursing Profession: Development, Challenges, and Opportunities provides a comprehensive collection of 24 articles significant to the nursing profession. Readers will instantly recognize contributing authors' names from nursing's historical past such as Florence Nightingale and contemporary nurse scholars Peter Buerhaus and Linda Aiken. In addition, nurse historians Joan Lynaugh and Karen Buhler-Wilkerson are among the authors whose notable works were selected for this text.The text begins with an original article written by Diana Mason who provides a succinct review of the nursing field. She speaks to the rich history of nursing, its current issues and challenges, as well as a vision for nursing's future. Mason sets the stage for the selected articles to follow organized into thematic categories of interest to the nursing profession today: (a) The History of Nursing and the Role of Nurses; (b) Nursing Education and Training; (c) Advanced Practice Nursing; (d) The Nursing Workforce/Nursing Shortages; (e) Quality, Safety, and Cost; and (f) Specialty Practice in Nursing. Each section contains two to five articles, spanning time from 1860 to the present, selected by the editors for high quality content and influence to the field of nursing.Organized with a health policy framework, each article was reprinted as written by the original author. An "Editors' Note" provides a brief introduction to each chapter which serves as a helpful preview for the first time reader and a quick reference for others. The editors highlight salient points of interest and how the content speaks to the development of nursing, its distinct challenges, and its many opportunities.As noted in the opening paragraph, this text is suggested for use as a companion to the RWJF and IOM "Future of Nursing" report which responds to the dramatic health policy changes found in the 2010 Affordable Care Act. This legislature represents the broadest health care overhaul since the 1965 creation of the Medicare and Medicaid programs. Transforming the health care system to provide safe, quality, patient-centered, accessible, and affordable care requires a comprehensive rethinking of the roles of many health care professionals, nurses chief among them. …