Continuous learning is a critical competency all professionals must engage as we move forward in our careers. Professionals must stay up-to-date of advances in practice, learn about new opportunities, and hone their skills. Last year I introduced 2016 Professional Reading List. Many of the books on that list of still relevant. If you missed last years list or want to review it again, click here to access.
In this year’s Professional Reading List, I would like to highlight books and articles I have come across this year that are essential tools for all professionals in the healthcare field. I am excited that most of those books and articles are written by nurses and other members of the healthcare team!
All of the books and articles provide information that will enhance your personal lives as well as your professional careers. Take a few minutes to review the list and purchase those that resonate with you.I hope you find a few books you will add to your professional library.
Let’s get started!
My first recommendation is: “Medical Improv: A New Way to Improve Communication” by Beth Boynton, RN, MS. This testimonial from Tanya Bastin-Baltz, a Clinical Nurse Educator summed up why this book is a valuable tool as we all try to improve the culture of healthcare. She notes: “I am excited to have this book as a tool and a guide. The principles of Medical Improv are explained in depth. Also, there are extremely helpful, interactive exercises where you’re given the opportunity to put theory into practice and boost your capability to communicate more efficiently and professionally with finesse. As a clinical nurse educator, the interactive nature of this book is beyond invaluable.” Beth graciously has provided a discount code to those who would like to purchase this important book. When you order the book, you can save 25% through eStore. Here is the link https://www.createspace.com/6838053 Please use this coupon code: MS3TVQQ9
Disclosure: I had the opportunity to work with Beth as she wrote this book. I learned a great deal on the topic and can see the value Medical Improv can during these disruptive times.
Disclosure: I had the opportunity to work with Beth as she wrote this book. I learned a great deal on the topic and can see the value Medical Improv can during these disruptive times.
I am excited to share this next book, “Fear Transformed = POWER.” The book is written by a nurse colleague I met last year at the National Nurse Empowerment Institute annual conference. Elisha Lowe, RN, BSN, MBA is a dynamic woman who has transformed her life many times. Today, she is a successful entrepreneur. Her first book is a tool we all can use to address FEAR as an information signal to be transformed into powerful actions. The book POWER helps us to harness the power of fear to be able to do great things with our lives as we face everything and rise! To review the book and purchase, go to https://www.amazon.com/Fear-Transformed-Power-Wildest-Dreams/dp/1547121025.
As a new Nurse Blogger, I have waited for this book for a long time, The Nurse’s Guide to Blogging, was written by Brittney Wilson and Kati Kleber. Brittney has been a mentor and an inspiration to many nurses who wanted to use blogging to share their knowledge, expertise, and insights. As soon as the book was released, I ordered it and began to read it! I have to say it was worth the wait! These two nurses have put their heads together to create a one-stop resource for nurses looking to grow their blog, audience, and brand. If you are a nurse blogger or have thought about becoming a nurse blogging, this is a must read. Here is the link to review the book and purchase https://www.amazon.com/Nurses-Guide-Blogging-Profitable-Influencer/dp/1546566821
The next book is from Donna Meheady, Ed.D. ARP and founder of The Exceptional Nurse. Her recent book is The Exceptional Nurse: Tales from the trenches of truly resilient nurses working with disAbilities. Here is an overview: “They’re strong. They’re persistent. They’re resilient. They’re exceptional nurses. Read the true, inspiring stories of nurses with disabilities who overcame significant odds—managing physical and mental challenges on the job—and continued to be a nurse through it all. You’ll read of a nurse who has a learning disability and developed his own system of accommodation. You’ll find out about a nurse who experienced an amputation after many conservation surgeries and found a way to keep working. You’ll learn about a nurse who worked through a terrifying hurricane and developed mental illness and learned valuable lessons about herself to help her conquer it and continue being a nurse. You’ll hear the stories of what it’s like to lose hearing while on the job as well as develop vision deficits while nursing. In all these stories, the nurses’ resilience is what helped them pull through adverse situations, made them stronger and more capable nurses in the end. Also included is practical information on how to navigate the vocational rehabilitation system including a guide to requesting services, a sample accommodation request letter to share with an employer, as well as information on how to best disclose a psychiatric disability. Whether you’re a nurse or a student with a disability or you care about a nurse with a disability, this book will leave you inspired and prepared to be an exceptional nurse yourself. Here is the link to check out the book. http://tinyurl.com/qg9l49y https://www.amazon.com/Exceptional-Nurse-trenches-resilient-disabilities-ebook/dp/B00MMG9YUC
Next is a book from a friend and fellow Nurse Blogger, Kathy Quan. Kathy wrote this book last year that I had the honor of reviewing. If you are currently working or want to work in the area of home care, “Exploring the Home Health Care Experience; Transitioning Your Career Path” is an important book for you to read. Here are a few words about the book: “For nurses looking for a new challenge outside of the hospital and bedside care, this book explores the skilled home health care option for LV/PNS and RNs as well as therapists and social workers. It provides necessary information to give the reader a head start when inquiring and applying for a new position as well as understanding the basic vernacular and processes. As the population continues to age, the need for skilled home health care continues to grow. Hospital stays get shorter and shorter, and patients are being discharged sicker than ever before. Nurses are needed in increasing numbers to help them transition home and learn the skills necessary to remain in their own home as long as possible. You’ll be surprised how many people have no idea what their medications are for, much less how to manage exacerbation of chronic diseases outside of the hospital setting. If patient education excites you, then home health care may be the niche you’re looking for.” Here is the link to the Amazon page where you can review and purchase. https://www.amazon.com/Exploring-Home-Health-Care-Experience/dp/151732002X
Linda Grobman, Facebook friend, and Social Work Leader sent me a note about a new book her and her team has recently published. The book is: “The A-to-Z Self-Care Handbook for Social Workers and Other Helping Professionals.” The book was edited by Erlene Grise-Owens, Justin Jay Miller, and Mindy Eaves, published by The New Social Worker Press. Here is a snippet from the book: Self-care is imperative for the ethical practice of social work and other helping professions. From A (awareness) to Z (ZZZZ–Sleep), the editors and contributors use a simple A-to-Z framework to outline strategies to help you build a self-care plan with specific goals and ways to reach them realistically. Questions for reflection and additional resource lists help you to dig deeper in your self-care journey. Just as the ABCs are essential building blocks for a young child’s learning, you can use the ABCs in The A-to-Z Self-Care Handbook for Social Workers and Other Helping Professionals to build your way to a happy, healthy, ethical life as a helping professional. Includes a self-care planning form to help you set goals and formulate strategies. Here is the link to review the book and purchase. https://www.amazon.com/Self-Care-Handbook-Workers-Helping-Professionals/dp/1929109539
The next recommendation came from a nurse colleague, Mr. Rene Steinhauer RN, EMT-P whom I met in the Nurse Writers Facebook Group. He shared a book he wrote; “Saving Jimani; Life and Death in the Haiti Earthquake.” He noted that this is a real story of his team’s work in the first days of the Haiti Earthquake. During this time, the team was overwhelmed with more than 2000 casualties and ran out of supplies in the first 24 hours. Critical triage needed to be performed and creative solutions needed to occur. All of this is told as we follow the rescue of one of the many individuals saved during this disaster. Here are a two of the many quotes of book reviews found on Amazon.com; “Saving Jimani should be required pre-deployment reading for all disaster volunteers.” “It’s an engrossing and unvarnished look at medical volunteerism after a horrible catastrophe. “Saving Jimani” is not a book for the timid or for those who have a romanticized view of medicine saving lives amid chaos. Here is a link to check out this important book. https://www.amazon.com/Saving-Jimani-Death-Haiti-Earthquake/dp/1494981971
Next is a recommendation from Dan Walter. “Collateral Damage” is a stark reminder of the human side of what may often be seen as statistics, hidden behind words such as “adverse patient outcome.” The book presents, in its clearest form, the suffering of those left damaged by medical complications. It makes for compelling reading for ethicists, lawyers, all members of the healthcare team including patients and their caregivers. To learn more and purchase, go to https://www.amazon.com/Collateral-Damage-Patient-Procedure-Learning ebook/dp/B004EHZXAM
My next recommendation is a book by a LinkedIn contact, Kathy Torpie. “Losing Face: A Memoir of Lost Identity and Self Discovery” Losing Face’ tells the story of Kathy Torpie’s long journey of recovery as she struggles to cope with life-changing multiple trauma following a head-on collision with a drunk driver. She takes the reader on a journey through the alien and often terrifying world of the hospital as experienced by the patient. It is an intensely intimate view of the patient experience. One that is often hidden by more visible physical trauma. As a patient, Kathy encountered a broad spectrum of healthcare professionals in a wide variety of circumstances in New Zealand, Australia and the United States. She was left with new insights about the powerful influence that the clinician/patient relationship can have on important clinical outcomes, on patient safety, and on patient satisfaction. Losing Face was written as an invitation to enter into the world of the patient and share in some of the discoveries Kathy made along the way about the medical and personal dimensions of the patient experience. To learn more, visit her website, www.kathytorpie.com
In May 2017 I heard Dr. Paul Grundy, physician leader in the Patient-Centered Medical Home movement, deliver the opening Keynote at the Care Coordination Summit in Baltimore MD. After his presentation, I asked him a question; “how is the consumer supposed to navigate the healthcare system”? He said, “I am so glad you asked that question as I just finished writing a book titled: “Lost and Found: A Consumer’s Gide to Healthcare.” The book is an up-to-the-minute guide designed to help consumers of health care navigate the obstacles that stand between them and high-quality, affordable health care. Readers will learn about why primary care, more than any other aspect of medicine, will determine the quality of our healthcare as a nation. They’ll see the value inherent in a strong patient-physician relationship and how a “familiar physician” delivers the best preventive and acute care and chronic care management. And they’ll find out how to save money without sacrificing quality in today’s changing healthcare environment. To learn more and purchase this book visit the website; https://www.teamcaremedicine.com/lost-found-book-release-announcement
Wendell Matas, a colleague who I have been in contact with for years mostly through Facebook, took the time to share his contribution; “Incompatible with Nature: a Mothers Story” by Tracie Frank Mayer. He shared he met the author Tracie, her sister and Tracie’s son at a New Year’s Eve Party a year and a half ago. He said he had no idea that this mother and son has such an incredible story of him being born with a defective heart. The story will resonate with many because she was a staunch advocate for her son! Here is the link to review and purchase https://www.amazon.com/Incompatible-Nature-Tracie-Frank-Mayer/dp/1537201298
Teri Treiger case management friend and colleague shared the book she has been most impressed with this year; “Being Mortal” by Atul Gawande. Teri shared that each chapter highlights a personal story of someone coming to grips with their mortality. Each example points to the shortcomings or highlights the clinicians involved. She suggests that people read the book not as a nurse or social worker or case manager…. but simply as a human being. Here is the link http://atulgawande.com/book/being-mortal
Colleague and friend from the Nurse Empowerment Institute Shushanne Wynter-Minott, MSN, DNP, FNP-BC recently co-wrote an article with M. Sue McManus, Ph.D., BC-FNP, CNN titled; “Guidelines for Chronic Kidney Disease: Defining, Staging, and Managing in Primary Care. ” The article is in the Journal of Nurse Practitioners. If you work with patients which Kidney Disease this is an excellent article that will help you understand the disease, pathology and treatment options. To review the abstract and purchase the article go to http://www.npjournal.org/article/S1555-4155(17)30308-2/abstract
A friend and Patient Advocate Colleague Teri Dreher published an article titled “10 Ways to Prevent Medical Errors from Happening to You” in the Daily Herald. This article is a good example of how nurses can write to educate the consumer of the challenges they face in today’s healthcare system and how they can be and need to be an active participant in their care to prevent medical errors from occurring. Here is a link to the article http://www.dailyherald.com/entlife/20170611/10-ways-to-prevent-medical-errors-from-happening-to-you
The last recommendation came from the colleague, friend and President and Founder of the National Nurse Empowerment Institute, Eva Francis. Her new book, “50 BUSINESS IDEAS for Health Care Professionals: A Guide for Health Care Business Ownership” is a must read for those looking to move into Independent practice. The book will give you clarity as you embrace your passion in healthcare and do what you love to do best. If you are ready to launch a healthcare business, you must purchase this book. If you are a Health Care Professional or a business minded person who is passionate about the Health Care System and wants to launch a business, this is a “must read” for you. This book will give you clarity as you embrace your passion in healthcare and do what you love to do best. To review and purchase this book visit https://www.amazon.com/BUSINESS-IDEAS-Health-Care-Professionals/dp/1522862188
Thanks for reviewing my 2017 Professional Reading list. Please feel free to share this list with your friends, colleagues, and those you feel might benefit! As always, I welcome your input on books that have enhanced your professional practice. If you have a recommendation, feel free to put it in the comment box or email me at allewellyn48@gmail.com
Added on 7/31/17.
A new book was just published by Margaret Spense titled: Leadership Self-Transformation: 52 Career-Defining Questions Every High-Achieving Woman Must Answer. You can review on Amazon by clicking here.
Stefanie Daniels, friend, and colleague send me this note Because I believe that everyone with a career in healthcare – no matter the role – should stay current on the ‘business’ of managing health, my best book for 2017 is An American Sickness by Dr. Elisabeth Rosenthal, a medical journalist who formerly worked as a medical doctor. Dr. Rosenthal breaks down the medical industrial complex into the individual industries—the hospitals, doctors, insurance companies, and drug manufacturers—that together constitute our healthcare system and answers the question of how did healthcare, the caring endeavor, become healthcare, the highly profitable industry? Excellent read and highly recommended.
Ronald Hirsch, MD, FACP, CHCQM shared this note: I will add “Ending Medical Reversal” by Dr. Vinay Prasad. You’ll be amazed and shocked at how many “proven” treatments turned out to be worthless. To view on Amazon, click here.
Dr. Hirsch also reminded me of a book he wrote with Stefani Daniels titled: “The Hospital Guide to Contemporary Utilization Review”. To review on Amazon click here
