This brief but important book is designed to augment your leadership education and experience. It is also designed for a busy clinician who does not have the time or energy to wade through hundreds of pages of text. Now in it's second edition, this book can be read quickly in one two-hour sitting or as you have 10-15 minutes here and there. In conceiving this book, our goal was to develop a simple but comprehesive guide that is focused on the most crucial information you need to lead effectively in your role as charge nurse. As a result, we have focused on topics such as leadership, stakeholders/resources, self-awareness, patient safety, delegation, leading through conflict, navifationg change and mentoring. We hve devoted separate chapters to patient satisfaction and patient safety. These are over-arching concepts that require the implementation of all leadership skills. Each chapter is divided into two primary sections: Personal Lessons and Resources & References. The Personal Lessons section may contain: our thoughts on the topic, reflections, things to remember and case studies. The Resources & References section may include: short articles by other authors, key terms/acronyms, additional resources and references.

The Future of Nursing explores how nurses' roles, responsibilities, and education should change significantly to meet the increased demand for care that will be created by health care reform and to advance improvements in America's increasingly complex health system. At more than 3 million in number, nurses make up the single largest segment of the health care work force. They also spend the greatest amount of time in delivering patient care as a profession. Nurses therefore have valuable insights and unique abilities to contribute as partners with other health care professionals in improving the quality and safety of care as envisioned in the Affordable Care Act (ACA) enacted this year. Nurses should be fully engaged with other health professionals and assume leadership roles in redesigning care in the United States. To ensure its members are well-prepared, the profession should institute residency training for nurses, increase the percentage of nurses who attain a bachelor's degree to 80 percent by 2020, and double the number who pursue doctorates. Furthermore, regulatory and institutional obstacles-including limits on nurses' scope of practice-should be removed so that the health system can reap the full benefit of nurses' training, skills, and knowledge in patient care. In this book, the Institute of Medicine makes recommendations for an action-oriented blueprint for the future of nursing.