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!