Increasingly, stress as a concept is being used as an explanation of a wide variety of negative phenomena which are experienced by all people, but which include nurses in particular and their patients. Nursing has been identified as a 'high stress' profession and one can hardly pick up a nursing journal, or even read a newspaper article about nursing, without finding the word stress used liberally. Examples of its use are found in relation to sickness/absence rates, high level of nursing staff turnover, discontent in nursing, the effects of unemployment, the effects of overwork, having too much responsibility, having too Iittle responsibility or control, the effects of constantly giving emotionally to others, the causes of iIIness, the effects of going into hospital, delayed healing, anxiety, depression and alcoholism. Given the heterogeneous nature of these phenomena, some of which are the diametric opposite of others and that they are c1early being attributed to the one concept, stress, then that concept must necessarily be of importance within people's lives. Or is it perhaps just a fashionable, global, but uItimately empty explanation? Roy Bailey and I believe that stress is an extremely important concept. Indeed, we would argue that it is a meta-concept rat her than a concept, which does indeed serve to explain many disparate phenomena.

Increasingly, stress as a concept is being used as an explanation of a wide variety of negative phenomena which are experienced by all people, but which include nurses in particular and their patients. Nursing has been identified as a 'high stress' profession and one can hardly pick up a nursing journal, or even read a newspaper article about nursing, without finding the word stress used liberally. Examples of its use are found in relation to sickness/absence rates, high level of nursing staff turnover, discontent in nursing, the effects of unemployment, the effects of overwork, having too much responsibility, having too Iittle responsibility or control, the effects of constantly giving emotionally to others, the causes of iIIness, the effects of going into hospital, delayed healing, anxiety, depression and alcoholism. Given the heterogeneous nature of these phenomena, some of which are the diametric opposite of others and that they are c1early being attributed to the one concept, stress, then that concept must necessarily be of importance within people's lives. Or is it perhaps just a fashionable, global, but uItimately empty explanation? Roy Bailey and I believe that stress is an extremely important concept. Indeed, we would argue that it is a meta-concept rat her than a concept, which does indeed serve to explain many disparate phenomena.

This is the first comprehensive Handbook to examine the various models of stress, coping, and health and their relevance to nursing and related health fields. No other volume provides a compendium of key issues in stress and coping for the nursing and allied health professions. In this new edition, the authors assembles a team of expert practitioners and scholars in the field to present the broad range of issues that relate to stress and health such as response-oriented stress, stimulus-oriented stress, stress, coping, .

"Nurses play a vital role in improving the safety and quality of patient car -- not only in the hospital or ambulatory treatment facility, but also of community-based care and the care performed by family members. Nurses need know what proven techniques and interventions they can use to enhance patient outcomes. To address this need, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), with additional funding from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, has prepared this comprehensive, 1,400-page, handbook for nurses on patient safety and quality -- Patient Safety and Quality: An Evidence-Based Handbook for Nurses. (AHRQ Publication No. 08-0043)." - online AHRQ blurb, http://www.ahrq.gov/qual/nurseshdbk/

Winner of an AJN Book of the Year Award!. This timely second edition is needed now more than ever. Overworked nurses in understaffed health institutions are experiencing considerable stress -- and anger -- which can take its toll in fatigue, physical health problems, depression, and substance abuse. This wise and eloquent book, written by the leading nurse expert on anger research, uses the stories of dozens of ordinary nurses and nurse leaders to describe the consequences of mismanaged anger. Specific strategies for channeling anger into personal and professional empowerment are described, along with ways to interact in a positive and assertive manner with patients, other nurses, doctors, and administrators to improve working conditions. Nurses at every level and in any setting will find this an inspiring and refreshing book.;chapter