This chapter opens with the challenge Nightingale and her close colleagues faced in establishing nursing as a profession when the ethical standards of the existing (secular) nurses were (generally) so low. The ethical issues she had to deal with in her own school, soon after it opened, are discussed three thorny problems with appointments. Anyone reading Nightingale’s writing on nursing will be struck by how often and how forcefully she insisted on high ethical standards. The reason for the emphasis on ethical standards is obvious enough in the task Nightingale faced in raising the new profession from its disreputable past. The International Council on Nursing (ICN) established its Code of Ethics in 1953, again based on Nightingale principles. It identified four responsibilities: to promote health, to prevent illness, to restore health, and to alleviate suffering. The code asks nurses not only to act ethically themselves, but to challenge unethical practices.

Karen Gross shares eight lessons learned about leadership that occurred not from leading per se but from the process of hiring an academic nursing leader. The search now successfully concluded gave her an opportunity to reflect on what type of health care leader they were seeking at Southern Vermont College (SVC). Although not a health care professional, she spent more than 15 months thinking about leadership in the context of nursing. The whole search process from creating the job description to identifying a quality candidates’ pool to interviewing and ultimately selecting a divisional chair to helping the successful candidate see the fit with the institution allowed her to consider what qualities are critical to nursing leadership within the academy. In an interesting way, the search for a leader in nursing enabled her to think more effectively about leadership, and in the world of unintended consequences, made her a better leader.

This chapter talks about mentor intelligence as a source of excellence. In order to perform successfully in a complex profession like nursing, there are beginning threshold requirements such as intellectual intelligence (IQ) and specialized knowledge and skills. Further, it is thought that working at a high level of excellence in one’s field requires emotional intelligence. However, the lack of Mentor Intelligence presents major impediments in developing one’s full potential to the highest level. The chapter provides ten tips for raising nurse’s mentor intelligence. The tips include such as cultivating the three ingredients of Mentor Intelligence, practicing nursing profession in a culture of mentorship and collegiality, sharpening nurse’s communication skills and their message, networking, becoming a mentor-leader, and being a “forever” student of mentoring, and developing the art of mentoring others. Three ingredients of Mentor Intelligence include mentoring mentality; mentoring lens; and mentoring momentum.

Louise Woerner, the author has often been called a friend of nursing. From her perspective, she is an admirer of nursing and nurses. In fact, she is virtually in awe of nurses. She became part of the health care system through a turn in her business concept based on the regulatory environment in New York, and through that, an admirer of nurses. Over the course of her career, she has come to know there are many different types of nurse leaders. Leadership has to incorporate some exibility based on the situation and the goal. Home Care Rochester (HCR) began a successful “Roadway to Independence” program that took the home health aide employees from “bussers” to car owners, which enabled more care to be delivered in the hard- to-reach suburbs, and offered a new opportunity for both the patients and employees. Home care is a nursing-driven business with quiet leaders.

This chapter explores all aspects of American health care and its impact on a wide variety of health communication contexts and audiences. It discusses how health care delivery is taught to providers, how disease and wellness are communicated to patients, how providers share information with each other, and how health care organizations disseminate messages to members, stakeholders, and/or customers/clients/patients. The chapter focuses on health care pedagogy and how it is impacted by and/or alters health communication and health care delivery. It discusses the various ways medicine and nursing cocultures can be identified and categorized, through their artifacts, goals, communication behaviors, education, and so forth. The reality that nursing and medicine cocultures share languages, common goals, and values are some of the reasons why health care is as productive and effective as it is in America today.

Communication styles and behaviors are dynamic and responsive to situations, environments, and personal experience. Even with good communication skills, challenges will continue to arise when working with diverse cultures and generations, as well as when using different modes, such as face to face, audio, email, and texting to communicate. This chapter discusses how effective communication is critical to the development of leadership and management roles in nursing. It discusses and illustrates the principles of effective communication and how to overcome negative styles in case studies. The chapter helps the reader to reflect on their current communication style and integrate new communication techniques to improve their leadership skills to promote a healthy work environment. Considering how to practice assertive communication style, using technology to enhance conveying messages, and appreciating different perspectives begin to strengthen effective communication for the individual and the organization.

The ultimate purpose of rehabilitation research is to improve clinical and community-based practice and service delivery to maximize the function and quality of life of individuals with disabilities. This chapter begins with the history of rehabilitation and rehabilitation research, describes the key values that should be included in conducting rehabilitation research, and introduces some common frameworks that can assist researchers in designing and describing their studies. It also describes the current status of rehabilitation research, discusses the need for knowledge translation at all stages of the research process, and concludes with future directions. The very nature of rehabilitation is to involve multiple disciplines physiatry; physical, occupational, and recreational therapies; speech language pathology; neuropsychology; social work; nursing; and other medical disciplines. Throughout rehabilitation research, knowledge translation needs to be implemented so that decisions informing practice and future research can be made on a solid evidence base.

This chapter describes the many ways nurses can enjoy their journey back to school. It covers how to find balance in nurses’ life and stay motivated. The chapter provides examples of how nurses celebrated along the way, an important strategy for persistence. It addresses the ideas on how to enhance nurses professional role, including becoming a role model. The chapter also provides suggestions on how nurse can leave a legacy to nursing. An interesting phenomenon seems to take place once nurses enter the maintenance stage of change. Adequate doses of physical activity and humor are good ways to revitalize their energy. This is true for doctoral students, who find it draining to work independently on a dissertation. One way nurses remain motivated over the long haul is to connect with the school. By going back to school as an adult and proving one’s success, they become a role model.

The world needs visionary, effective, and wise leaders. Never has this statement been truer than it is in the world of healthcare today. Leadership matters. It matters in every organization, not only for nurses to thrive in their careers but to advance effective healthcare for society. This chapter considers the challenges facing today’s leaders in healthcare systems and the need for leaders who can transform these challenges into opportunities. It reviews foundational historical and theoretical contexts for leadership, and discusses the evolution and envisioned role of doctorally prepared nurses in healthcare systems and how they can exert positive influence as leaders within these systems. The chapter then explores theoretical contexts in the discipline of leadership to guide transformational leadership. It helps reader to develop leadership skills to shape the future of nursing and healthcare.

Jean Watson’s theory of Human Caring provides a foundation to carefully examine and purposefully enact caring in nursing. Watson’s work often discusses the importance of cultivating personal practices, including mindfulness, to support caring comportment. Watson’s theory is multilayered and complex. In addition to engaging in spiritual practices to deepen understanding, art provides a hands-on approach that will help clarify underlying structures of the theory, the scaffolding upon which the Caritas Processes are placed. This approach moves away from traditional word-based learning and toward an integrated, holistic understanding. Art activities can facilitate deep insight and mindfulness. For Watson’s theory, pointillism, mandalas, and photography have been the most helpful approaches for stimulating growth, insight, and learning. This chapter presents a brief explanation of each art form and its usefulness for studying and practicing Watson’s theory. It also provides an overview of the key concepts discussed in this book.