Clinical Nurse Specialists (CNS) play a critical role in ensuring the implementation of high-quality evidence based care, improved patient outcomes, and reduced health care delivery costs. Professional certification is one way we distinguish our unique contributions and advanced practice nursing expertise from other advanced practice roles. This first edition of the book represents a compilation of Clinical Nurse Specialist practice knowledge contributed by respected clinicians from across the nation for certification examination preparation. The book incorporates content from the American Association of Colleges of Nursing Adult-Gerontology Clinical Nurse Specialist (AGCNS) Population Focused Competencies and the American Association of Critical Care Nurses Scope and Standards for CNS Practice. It begins with an introduction to the current AGCNS examination options, test plans and processes, as well as test taking strategies for success. The remainder of the book organizes test plan subject matter according to the three spheres of impact of CNS practice. The book includes twelve chapters presenting the overview, pathophysiology, etiology, assessment, diagnosis, treatment/management, and related pharmacology content according to each body system. It addresses the nurse and nursing practice sphere of impact. Relevant content includes age-related response to illness and adult-gerontology population specific practice standards for care and advocacy of the older adult. Emphasis is placed upon culturally competent care and safe care transitions. Nursing practice content includes consultation, collaboration, education, mentoring and communication skills. Nurse and nursing practice advocacy topics review public policy, professional practice issues, and ethical concerns. The book covers systems and systems leadership competencies of the CNS. Relevant content involves quality improvement principles, safety initiatives, financial stewardship, organizational level program development and systems change. Clinical inquiry subject matter covers evidence- based practice, research methodology, and skills for dissemination of CNS work.

This book provides the foundations and training that social workers need to master cognitive behavior therapy (CBT). CBT is based on several principles namely cognitions affect behavior and emotion; certain experiences can evoke cognitions, explanation, and attributions about that situation; cognitions may be made aware, monitored, and altered; desired emotional and behavioral change can be achieved through cognitive change. CBT employs a number of distinct and unique therapeutic strategies in its practice. As the human services increasingly develop robust evidence regarding the effectiveness of various psychosocial treatments for various clinical disorders and life problems, it becomes increasingly incumbent upon individual practitioners to become proficient in, and to provide, as first choice treatments, these various forms of evidence-based practice. It is also increasingly evident that CBT and practice represents a strongly supported approach to social work education and practice. The book covers the most common disorders encountered when working with adults, children, families, and couples including: anxiety disorders, depression, personality disorder, sexual and physical abuse, substance misuse, grief and bereavement, and eating disorders. Clinical social workers have an opportunity to position themselves at the forefront of historic, philosophical change in 21st-century medicine. While studies using the most advanced medical technology show the impact of emotional suffering on physical disease, other studies using the same technology are demonstrating CBT’s effectiveness in relieving not just emotional suffering but physical suffering among medically ill patients.

Caring for the dying and their families can be one of the most emotionally fulfilling, personalized, and loving acts a nurse can provide. This book, about the CARES tool, attempts to convey essential information on how to effectively care for the dying in a condensed and readily applicable format for the bedside nurse. It is divided into seven parts. A general background and the establishment of the CARES tool are found in Part I. The second part presents a detailed breakdown of the CARES tool by sections (comfort, airway, restlessness and delirium, emotional and spiritual support, and self-care). Part III shares the theoretical foundation of the CARES tool, and emphasizes the need for patient advocacy and strong communication skills. It also explores what can be done to promote a peaceful death. The fourth part consists of two chapters which address the changes in our culture that must occur and the new role of the doctor of nursing practice (DNP) for translating the current literature into evidence-based practice. Part V examines how the use of the CARES tool can impact nursing care and encourage end-of-life care involvement by other health care providers, and how hope can be nurtured for the dying. The penultimate part of the book provides insight into CARES tool application strategies employed at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre in Toronto, Canada. The last part summarizes the example scenario of an individual final journey and the individualized care he and his family were given in an effort to provide a peaceful and loving death. It also provides some recommended websites, readings, and references to continue the reader’s education on evidence-based compassionate care of the dying.

This book is a response that fosters education, practice development, and professionalism. The bachelor of science in nursing (BSN) is the essential educational foundation to give nurses the knowledge to improve health outcomes and provide the highest quality care. It provides the essentials of nursing theory and the importance of having a philosophy of nursing that informs our professional role. The book is written to assist with the transition from the role of the LPN to the baccalaureate-prepared registered nurse (RN). Licensed practical nurses (LPNs) who enter a university to advance their education through seeking a baccalaureate of nursing degree often find the experience of socializing into the new professional role challenging. The book analyzes the change process, discusses Benner’s stages of clinical competence, examines the philosophy of nursing and describes stress reduction measures. The terms leadership and management are described, and the role of the baccalaureate-prepared nurse as leader and manager is explored. Finally the book talks about the Skill Competencies required for the Baccalaureate-Prepared Nurse-electronic health records (EHRs); the Technology Informatics Guiding Education Reform (TIGER) Movement; Simulated E-Health Delivery System (SEEDS) and Nursing Informatics Education Model (NIEM). The Quality and Safety Education for Nurses (QSEN) program was created in 2005 by an expert panel of nursing educators with the aim of preparing future nurses to continuously advance the quality and safety of the health care system in which they practice. The group developed six core competencies to be incorporated into nursing curricula: client-centered care; teamwork and collaboration; evidence-based practice; quality improvement; safety; and informatics.

This book is designed to help nurses and other health professionals develop compelling proposals for PhD dissertations; National Institutes of Health (NIH) research grants, fellowships, and career development awards; and proposals for education, translation, evidence-based practice, and demonstration projects, including those for the Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) capstone project. It takes readers through all the parts of developing a proposal, selecting a problem; showing the significance of the problem; describing the work already done on the problem and the need for further work on the problem or its solution; describing their preliminary work, when relevant; and detailing their design and methods. Then, the book offers innovative ideas for writing a dissertation proposal or a proposal for a DNP project or other type of evidence-based practice project. In describing proposals for NIH funding, the book gives detailed instructions on what content to include and how to organize the Specific Aims section and provides similar details on writing the Significance, Innovation, and Approach sections. Finally, it offers guidance in composing a title and abstract, preparing the additional materials needed for a proposal, and developing a budget. It also addresses the processes of writing proposals, submitting a grant proposal, the review, and a possible resubmission.

The intent of this book is to provide useful knowledge and practical applications to ease the work of leading or working in a hospital-based nursing research program. It contains principles that apply to all sizes of hospitals, as well as hospital systems that may be spread out over multiple states or be contained in one area. The book describes how nursing research provides new evidence for nursing practice that improves clinical outcomes, changes the culture of the organization, creates new leadership roles for nurses, offers opportunities for interdisciplinary collaboration, enhances patient safety, improves nurse and patient satisfaction, and leads to positive branding of the hospital and the nursing department. Nursing leadership can create (or support) a vision for nursing research based on the benefits that are central to the hospital’s strategic mission and goals. An essential element of setting the foundation and planning, growing, and nurturing a nursing research program is to demonstrate how the program aligns with the strategic plan (vision, mission, and goals) of nursing. The three foundational elements of strong nursing research programs personnel, intranet resources, and a nursing research department database are interconnected and should be available to the entire nursing department, including non-nurse providers and administrators, because important research questions can come from anyone on the team. The nursing research department database is an electronic system of input and storage of direct and indirect data important to the development, conduct, translation, and dissemination of nursing research.

The doctor of nursing practice (DNP) capstone project is a scholarly method to directly impact quality of care and health care outcomes. Translating knowledge into practice and disseminating outcomes for care and policy are consistent with the call for action in the Institute of Medicine report. This book adds to the dialogue by presenting exemplary capstone projects that have provided leadership for change in clinical practice, enhanced interdisciplinary collaboration, promoted advocacy and policy changes, or contributed to quality improvement in health care systems. Each exemplar presented is linked to one or more of the DNP essentials. After a presentation on the impact of DNP degree on clinical practice, the book addresses issues related to the development of the bachelor’s in science of nursing to doctor of nursing (BSN-DNP) capstone curriculum. DNP education is heavily focused on innovative and evidence-based practices (EBPs), and the capstone exemplar describes how a DNP student was guided to design and implement an EBP capstone project. Subsequently, the book discusses burnout as a barrier to practice among nurse-midwives, describes a systems-level change in implementing diabetic group visits in a primary care clinic, and explains the development of a training program for emergency nurses to prevent compassion fatigue and strengthen resiliency skills. One of the chapters is devoted to the development of a data collection tool for microcosting provision of care within the freestanding birth center (FBC) model of maternity care.

Direct practice social work is an approach for helping others that emphasizes a strengths perspective and focuses on person to person contact with individuals, groups, or families (Saleebey, 1996, 2011). The primary goal of direct practice social work is to provide assistance to vulnerable populations within our society. Direct practice social workers are required to be licensed by the state in which they reside and are regulated by a state board. The National Association of Social Workers (NASW) has established standards and guidelines for conducting the services that direct practice social workers provide. This book is organized into ten chapters. The first chapter provides an introduction to direct practice social work. The second chapter discusses the values and ethical foundations of social work practice. The third chapter presents social work theories, practice models, and the strengths-based direct practice framework. Chapter four describes the engagement process, which refers to the initial interactions between the social worker and the client. The fifth chapter focuses on assessment and goal formulation using a strengths-based approach. The sixth chapter details the factors that must be considered when identifying interventions and outlines a few of the more prevalently used modalities such as evidence-based practice, crisis intervention, cognitive restructuring, and group interventions. Chapter seven outlines the various ways social workers can evaluate progress with clients as well as guide practitioners through the process of terminating the helping relationship. The eight chapter describes strengths-based direct practice documentation. Chapter nine presents challenging practice conditions. It is designed to provide some of the basic knowledge to be used with a variety of specific client circumstances. The final chapter examines practice implications for the strengths-based direct practice professional. It focuses on typical obstacles that social workers must be alert to as well as methods for navigating them.

This book presents a conceptual framework for contemporary nursing practice based on the science of self-care and also incorporates other nursing and multidisciplinary perspectives. It illustrates how to attain and integrate knowledge from nursing theory and theories of related disciplines to achieve optimal evidence-based nursing practice. Case examples from a variety of clinical situations integrated with nursing theory demonstrate the variables needed to achieve optimal nursing practice. The first chapter discusses, inter alia, the relative value of different ways and patterns of knowing within the discipline of nursing. This is followed by a chapter that explains the importance of knowing and understanding the proper object of nursing. Nursing is an action system; action systems begin with problem identification, framing, and delineation. Several factors condition or influence the requirements for self-care, and represent a point of articulation of nursing sciences with other sciences that inform health-related situations. Self-care agency is developed as one learns from his or her family members and others in society to care for self. A traditional collaborative-care system is a unique whole that is formed through the informal or formal negotiation for care by two adults. The dependent-care agent is a person in a relationship not only with the care recipient but also with other members of the family. The family may be a factor that conditions the therapeutic self-care demand and self-care agency of the family member who is the identified patient.

Common dermatological problems seen frequently in primary care practice can be difficult to identify. Becoming educated about the descriptors provides an important foundation for building clinical skills in assessment, differential diagnosis, and preferred management of common skin conditions. This book features dermatology diagnostics, treatments, and management strategies. Dermatologic diagnostics include skin assessment, specimen collection, and the use of mechanical devices. Evidence-based topical, systemic, and surgical treatment options for skin conditions are provided. Additionally, wide-ranging management strategies are included. An especially unique feature of this book is the dermatological decision trees. These decision trees are clinical tools that were developed to provide a graphic representation to guide the user from known information, at the apex of the tree, to a final choice based on observation and logic. To facilitate the practitioner’s ability to more quickly identify which of the 60 conditions a patient has, the section covering these conditions is organized using a standard format that includes overview, epidemiology, etiology, clinical presentation, histology, differential diagnosis, treatment and management, special considerations and appropriate referrals, patient education, patient follow-up, and clinical pearls. The skin conditions that are covered in this book include abrasions and skin tears, acne, burns, cysts, dermatitis, impetigo, insect bites, nail conditions, psoriasis, skin cancer and vasculitis.