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Nurse Education in Practice 13 (2013) e8

Contents lists available

Nurse Education in Practice

journal homepage: www.elsevier .com/nepr

Book review

Smart Nursing. Nurse Retention & Patient Safety ImprovementStrategies, June Fabre, 2nd ed. Springer Publishing Company(2009). ISBN: 978-08261-0465-6

The immediate first impression of this text is one of delightfuleasily digestible chapters using simplistic language to illustratekey points. The simplistic style of writing and use of languagemakes this text appealing along with the organizational style ofthe books structure. Indeed the author suggests that the easy-to-understand style of the book will ensure its accessibility for whichI tend to agree. The book is organized into four parts, with severalchapters in each, for which two parts specifically focused on theseven core values of smart nursing and their application ineveryday practice. Whilst there may be numerous interpretationsof what constitutes core values for nursing, the author appears tohave captured succinctly within a framework, smart nursing valuesincluding: respect, simplicity, flexibility, integrity, culture, commu-nication and caring. Each of these core values of smart nursing isthen discussed in individual chapters. These individual chaptershowever are less detailed than expected, providing broad anecdotaltype information, for which more comprehensive detail wouldhave been of value.

Littered throughout the chapters are practice based examplesdrawn from anecdotal evidence by nurse educators, administratorsand nursing directors. This evidence is effectively used to illustratehow others have encountered and problem solved in their indi-vidual organizations which may benefit others. Whilst this iscertainly worthy by these contributors the extent and detail ofthe evidence may be less valuable for experienced nurse readers.

Equally many of the chapters contain practical exercises forreaders to undertake and test in their own practice setting. Theseare particularly useful for practitioners and are presented in some

doi:10.1016/j.nepr.2012.05.006

instances asworksheets for completion bynursing teams as amech-anism to engage in the core values of smart nursing as referred to bythe author. Similarly the text provides interesting and practicalinstruction for nurses to consider thefinancial aspects of the nursingresource. Whilst the text is written from a US audience perspectivethe principles presented are applicable to an international audience.The author believes that the text will be of particular interest to notonly nurses, but nurse managers, chief nurses, CEO’s and thoseoutside nursing with a vested interest in improving healthcare.Whilst the simplistic style of this text is appealing, it is this veryfeature thatmaypreclude its value for veteran and senior level nurseand non nursing managers. The inherent strength of this text lies inits immersion in practice, whereby the author provides countlessanecdotes frompractical experiences.Whilst this is certainlyworth-while and very useful for novice nurses and nurse educators, it lacksthe strength and depth of evidence and contextualization for moreexperienced nurses and those in senior nursing and non nursingmanagementpositions. It is howeverquite suitable fornurseswhosecareer trajectory is headed towards nursing management/nurseleadership as the author both encourages and provides illustratedscenarios and worksheets in which these nurses can flex theirmanagement/leadership abilities.

In conclusion I feel this book which is most appealingly pre-sented, provides what I would term “gold nuggets” of valuableinformation and practical evidence for readers immersed in prac-tice seeking to influence positive change for which this text willentice the reader to explore additional more in-depth texts further.

Philippa Ryan WitheroNurse Practice Development Advisor, Tallaght Hospital, Dublin,

IrelandE-mail address: Phillippa.ryanwithero@amnch.ie