A Nursing Textbook Worthy of NurseManifest Endorsement

January 14, 2015November 29, 2015 / Peggy L Chinn / 2 Comments

Several months ago I had the honor of writing the Foreword to a new nursing textbook by Gweneth Hartrick Doane and Colleen Varcoe titled “How to Nurse: Relational Inquiry with Individuals and Families in Changing Health and Health Care Context.” In their Preface, they state the goal of the text very clearly – one that reflects elegantly the ideals of the NurseManifest vision:

“Our goal is to help readers engage in a thoughtful process of inquiry to more intentionally and consciously develop their knowledge and nursing practice, develop their confidence and ability to act in alignment with their nursing values, and to navigate the complexities of contemporary health care settings as they care for patients and families.” (p. x)

There are particular features of the book that are notable from “NurseManifest” perspective. One is that the book accomplishes something typically missing in textbooks – it fully engages the reader as a participant. In essence, the book “models” the title — it is relational. Throughout the book there are features that engage the reader in the content, for example encouraging the reader to “try it out” and providing guidelines for “this week in pracice.” The “Relational Inquiry Toolbox” features at the end of most of the chapters provide guidance for the reader in focusing on using the tools presented in the chapter in practice. For example, at the end of Chapter 2 – one of the tools is to “Enlist a critical feminist filter to see how gender dynamics are intersecting with other forms of oppression and affecting health and health care.”

In short, this is a marvelous book. Get your copy today .. even as a person who is not enrolled as a nursing student, I guarantee you will learn a lot and see vast possibilities for nursing that will amaze you!

Alchemic Reflections of Nurse Manifest Project 2014 and Beyond

December 31, 2014 / Peggy L Chinn / 2 Comments

This post is contributed by Dr. Wendy Marks

The Nurse Manifest project is a collective work in progress. I encourage nurses around the globe to join the cause and become social activists working towards partnership and emancipation in healthcare practice, education, research and policy.

Reflecting upon the achievements in the nursing profession for 2014, I consider the Manifesto’s Mission:

A Call to Conscience and Action

To raise awareness
To inspire action
To open discussion of issues that are vital to nursing and health care around the globe.

2014 was a year of nurses raising their awareness of issues vital to nursing and healthcare around the globe. From Ebola, to poverty and violence, nurses are at the frontlines addressing personal and public health concerns around the world.

2014 saw expanding roles of nurses with the abolition of practice barriers for Advanced Practice Nurses to meet growing healthcare demands in many States.

The American Nurses Association is a great place to find resources for advancing the profession http://www.nursingworld.org. One great initiative is from the Bedside to the Board Room; where staff nurses are educated to create policy change.

I encourage nurses to read, reflect upon and utilize the ideas from the articles, books and doctoral dissertations citing the project https://nursemanifest.com/resources/.

Change happens when we reflect and transform of values, beliefs and actions. As we close 2014 and open 2015, I encourage nurses around the globe to see and say what nursing is and can be. Create the world you want to live in.

As nurse manifestors we are looking for new thought, bravery, compassion, and alchemy.

The poem Not Here by Rumi illuminates our work and mission:

Not Here

There’s courage involved if you want to become truth.
There is a broken-open place in a lover.
Where are those qualities of bravery and sharp compassion in this group?
What’s the use of old and frozen thought?
I want a howling hurt. This is not a treasury where gold is stored; this is for copper.
We alchemists look for talent that can heat up and change. Lukewarm won’t do.
Half-hearted holding back, well-enough getting by?
Not here.

— From Soul of Rumi by Coleman Barks

Go forth nurses in 2015 and bring peace, comfort, care, love and alchemy!

Nurses are again at the top of the Gallup Poll!

December 26, 2014 / Peggy L Chinn / Leave a comment

Polling data are difficult to interpret, but the fact that nurses consistently rank at the top of the Gallup Poll on “honestly & ethical standards” reflects a persistent public opinion about nurses that contradicts the negative media images of nurses that also persist over time. Here is what the Gallup folks say about this finding:

Nurses have topped the list each year since they were first included in 1999, with the exception of 2001 when firefighters were included in response to their work during and after the 9/11 attacks. Since 2005, at least 80% of Americans have said nurses have high ethics and honesty. Two other medical professions — medical doctors and pharmacists — tie this year for second place at 65%, with police officers and clergy approaching 50%.

This poll was announced on December 18th, 2014, along with the image above that portrays a professional, technically capable nurse. So this is good news – perhaps a bit puzzling – but a positive note on which to close out 2014!

NPR Blog features article by Nurse Kelli Dunham!

December 21, 2014 / Peggy L Chinn / Leave a comment

Check out today’s post on the NPR blog post by Kelli Dunham titled Why Does It Take A Movie Robot To Show What Nurses Really Do? Kelli uses the character Baymax robot character in the movie Big Hero 6 to examine message about what nurses really contribute to health care!

Kelli’s message will reach a wide audience of folks and sends a clear message that is so in line with what we are working toward with the NurseManifest project! Check it out, and share your responses to Kelli’s post here as well as on the NPR blog!

Time Magazine “Person of the Year” features Nurses!

December 11, 2014 / Peggy L Chinn / 2 Comments

There are four nurses included in the Time Magazine “Person of the Year” – the Ebola Fighters! These nurses are

Kaci Hickox, wrongfully quarantined in New Jersey and then Maine after returning from Sierra Leone where she was treating Ebola patients.

Iris Martor, a school nurse in Monrovia, the capital city of Liberia. who is working locally to educate, protect, and help people in her local community to overcome the devastating epidemic in her country.

Nina Pham and Amber Vinson, nsures at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital who contracte Ebola while caring for Mr. Duncan, who arrived in Texas with Ebola and died while in the Texas hospital.

I was impressed, in reading each of their stories, of their statements of commitment to caring for those in need, and recognizing the dangers involved they remained steadfast in expressing their values. Read their stories here where you can also take a few minutes to add your comments acknowledging these nurses!