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RN Leaders Tackle Top 10 Nursing Priorities in New Book

Nurse comforting patient in wheelchair

  [caption id="attachment_48266" align="alignleft" width="300"]Jennifer Mensik, RN Jennifer Mensik, RN[/caption] In their new book, "The Power of Ten, 2nd Edition: A Conversational Approach to Tackling the Top Ten Priorities in Nursing," Nurse.com and OnCourse Learning's Jennifer Mensik, PhD, MBA, RN, NEA-BC, FAAN, and national nurse leader Susan B. Hassmiller, PhD, RN, FAAN, provide a road map for those conversations to begin. "Our hope is that everyone reads this book and takes one action item from it that they feel passionate about and helps to make that change occur," said Mensik, the executive director for nursing, medicine and pharmacy education programs for OnCourse Learning. "We believe that this will be very influential in advancing our profession." Mensik will be signing books and greeting attendees from 9:30 to 10:30 a.m. EDT Oct. 7 at OnCourse Learning's CE Direct booth (#1502) during the American Nurses Credentialing Center's National Magnet Conference in Orlando. "Nurses do want to have a voice," said Hassmiller, who serves as senior adviser for nursing at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. "If nurses want to be part of the solution with issues such as healthcare, the Affordable Care Act, health insurance or better staffing, they need to understand the context that's really important for nursing. You need to be able to articulate the important issues for nursing and understand what's touching our profession, and sometimes holding us back." [caption id="attachment_48269" align="alignleft" width="208"]Sue Hassmiller, RN Sue Hassmiller, RN[/caption] The authors surveyed more than 50 national and international nurse leaders on the issues most impacting the nursing profession. From that feedback, they presented the top 10 issues through essays, quotes, action items, discussion points and data. The top 10 priorities include the following:

  • Education reform
  • Academic progression
  • Diversity
  • Interprofessional collaboration
  • Systems thinking
  • Voice of nursing
  • Global stewardship
  • Practice authority
  • Delivery of care
  • Professional handoff

"All of these things are critically important to being a professional nurse," Hassmiller said. "It's part of our role. I want to make as much progress as possible with nurses having a voice." The book was published by the Honor Society of Nursing, Sigma Theta Tau International, and is available for purchase online. The authors will donate royalties from the book equally to American Red Cross nursing programs and the American Nurses Foundation. To comment, email [email protected].