Religion vs Medicine, e.g.

Jehovah's Witness children and blood

transfusions
Removal of feeding tubes in clients in "persistent vegetative state" (e.g.
Terry Schiavo)
Viability of newborns who are underweight
Abortion
Assisted Suicide
Mental Health Care in general and intervening when clients pose a threat
to themselves or others (e.g. Vince Li)
Use of restraining devices and sedatives in elderly and confused patients
Quality of care in understaffed hospitals with overworked care providers

Try the issue of dealing with a physician's order that you believe to be
wrong or harmful to the patient.

Synopsis

Current Issues in Nursing provides a forum for knowledgeable debate on the important issues
that nurses face today. This resource provides the opportunity to analyze conflicting
viewpoints and develop your own thoughts on demands being made for the nursing
profession and the difficult issues affecting today's health care delivery. Continually praised
for its in-depth discussion of critical issues, solid organization of material, and
encouragement of independent thinking, you’ll find this text a valuable resource in the
modern world of nursing.

• Offers comprehensive and timely coverage of the issues affecting nursing education and
practice.

• UNIQUE! Over 100 well-known contributors offer their expert insights and analysis.

• UNIQUE! Viewpoint chapters present controversial issues to showcase pressing issues

facing nursing today.

• New content covering the following topics:

• The Challenges of Nursing on an International Level

• Health Care Systems and Practice

• Ethics, Legal, and Social Issues

• The Changing Practice

• Professional Challenges, Collaboration, & Conflict

• Violence Prevention and Care: Nursing’s Role

• Definitions of Nursing
• Changing Education

Synopsis

Using a thought-provoking approach that fosters critical thinking and values clarification, this
textbook examines the full range of professional issues facing contemporary nursing.
Coverage includes critical issues such as the nursing shortage, mandatory staffing ratios,
violence in nursing, legal and ethical issues, plus the latest HIPAA regulations, career
advancement and evaluations, and best practices for today and the future.

Chapters are grouped into five categories—furthering the profession, workforce issues,
workplace issues, legal and ethical issues, and professional power. Each chapter presents
multiple perspectives on a topic and ends with thought-provoking discussion questions.
Comprehensive lists of electronic, news/media, and print resources help students find
supplemental information.

The 10 Most Important Political Issues for Nurses in 2008

Topic: Education

Nurses may not consider themselves to be political, but the fact is that political issues affect
the lives of patients and the nurses who care for them. These issues range from financial to
controversial, but they’re all important for every nurse to consider. Take a look at these issues
to better educate yourself for the political season of 2008.

1. Insurance
Health insurance is one of the issues at the forefront of the current presidential campaign, and
nurses should take notice. Implementation of universal health insurance, or even just more
accessible health care could create an influx of new patients that were not able to access
medical care in the past. While overall, this could be a good thing for the health of American
citizens, it will undoubtedly place a strain on nurses that are already worn thin.

2. Funding
An issue that nurses should be worried about is funding for immigrants and those that can’t
afford health care. A lack of adequate funding has already caused trouble for some,
specifically cancer patients in Galveston. Unfortunately, UTMB didn’t set aside enough
funding to treat impoverished cancer patients, apparently underestimating the number of
illegal immigrants they’d be treating. Health care as a whole is in desperate need for either a
new solution or more funding to treat those that can’t afford to be treated.

3. National Nurse
A National Nurse has been proposed, but not implemented. The Office of the National Nurse
would complement the Surgeon General, offering a patient-centric focus on healthcare for the
nation. A National Nurse’s job would bring a healthy dose of preventive medicine, easing the
burden on America’s health care system and in turn, nurses. Specifically, the National Nurse
is proposed to make health care education focused on prevention available to Americans in a
very accessible way.
4. Harm Reduction
This controversial issue deals with programs that seek to reduce the harm associated with
potentially dangerous lifestyle choices. These range from designated driver campaigns to
condom distributions in schools and needle exchange programs for drug addicts. While
supporters of harm reduction laud the burden that it takes off of the public health care system,
critics believe that such programs condone and even support behaviors that should be
eliminated. Nurses are caught in the middle of this debate, some involved in administering
harm reduction services, and others either wishing to help reduce health problems associated
with these dangerous behaviors, whether it’s through elimination of the behaviors or by
working around then through harm reduction.

5. Hospital Staffing Levels

As you are probably painfully aware, we’re experiencing a shortage of registered nurses,
which results in overworked staff and puts patient safety in jeopardy. Nurses need to push for
better pay and better working conditions, both of which will serve to attract and retain more
nurses where they’re needed.

6. Education
One way to help with nurse staffing levels is to attract more nurses to the field and make it
easier for them to receive quality education. Representative Lois Capps, a nurse serving in
Congress, has proposed better access to nursing education. This would be achieved through
partnerships with health care providers and educational institutions, support for nurses who
choose to pursue advanced education, and better data on the nursing workforce.

7. Media Image
Many TV shows depict nurses as physician assistants and handmaidens that have little
technical knowledge. Because of this misrepresentation, nurses get less respect and authority
from both doctors and patients, which of course causes friction in these relationships. Groups
like the Center for Nursing Advocacy have letter-writing campaigns directed at TV shows
and other outlets that spread this misconception.

8. Advanced Practice Nurses

Registered nurses with advanced education and skills function in specialized practices, such
as certified nurse midwife and certified registered nurse anesthetist. In advanced practice,
some of these nurses can diagnose illnesses and write prescriptions. Advanced practice nurses
are an important political issue because their advancement and growth is essential to
improving conditions for overworked nurses and providing care for an ever-expanding aging
population.

9. Pharmaceutical Companies
Pharmaceutical companies are becoming greedier every day, and passing rising costs on to
patients who can’t always afford to pay more for prescriptions. Additionally, doctors are
constantly barraged by pharmaceutical companies to try out certain prescriptions which may
or may not be the best option for patients. This jeopardizes the relationship nurses have with
patients as an advocate for their care while lining the pockets of corporations.

10. Veteran Care

Veterans today are often finding that the benefits they’ve been promised are coming up short.
Many earn too much money to qualify for services, but still don’t make enough to get private
insurance, placing them in the dreaded “uninsured” category of patients that put a strain on
our health care system. Of those that do qualify, they’re often subject to long waiting lists and
inadequate care. In both situations, veterans are not receiving adequate care for chronic
conditions as well as regular checkups, allowing problems to worsen and create a harder
situation for both patient and nurse.

These political issues may sound daunting, but as a nurse, there’s a lot you can do to get
involved. You can write to your Congressional representatives, join groups like the Center for
Nursing Advocacy, and make your voice heard in your local medical community through
journals and civic meetings. The political future of nursing is in your hands, if only you
choose to accept it.

Current Issues In Nursing, 8th Edition

Cowen & Moorhead

Table of Contents

Section 1 Defining Nursing from a Variety of Roles

The Richness of Nursing

1 What is Nursing, Why Do We Ask, and How Will Nursing be Better Understood?

2 Staff Nurses Working in Hospitals: Who Are They, What Do They Do, and What Are Their
Challenges?

3 Clinical Nurse Specialists: Education and Practice Issues

4 Nurse Practitioners: Taking Their Place in the Health Care Arena

5 Nurse Executives: Critical Thinking for Rapid Change

6 The Nurse as Chief Executive Officer (NEW)

7 Nurse Educators: Issues That Affect the Profession

8 Nurse Researchers: Who Are They, What Do They Do, and What Are Their Challenges?

Section 2 Nursing Education in Transition

Nursing Education in Transition

9 Creating the Future of Nursing Education: Challenges and Opportunities

10 Educational Challenges: Quality in Pre-Licensure Nursing Education

11 Graduate Nursing Education: A Critical Examination from a Global Perspective

12 International Collaborative Institutional Approaches to Nursing Education (NEW)

13 Using Academic-Service Collaborative Partnerships to Expand Professional Nursing

Programs

14 Creating the Nursing Theory-Research-Practice Nexus

15 E-Learning

Section 3 Changing Practice

A Nurse Is Not a Nurse Is Not a Nurse

16 Moving the Care from Hospital to Home

17 Adult Health Nursing Practice: Current Changes & Issues

18 Alternative and Complementary Therapies: Recent Changes and Current Issues

19 Ambulatory Care Nursing: Challenges for the Twenty-First Century

20 Gerontological Nursing: Recent Changes and Current Issues

21 Hospice and Palliative Care: One Solution for Improving U.S. Health Care?

22 Pediatric Nursing: Recent Changes and Current Issues

23 Perinatal Nursing: Recent Changes and Current Issues

24 Perioperative Nursing: Recent Changes and Current Issues

25 Psychiatric Mental Health Nursing: Recent Changes and Current Issues

26 Forensic Nursing: Recent Changes and Current Issues

27 Occupational Health Nursing: Recent Changes and Current Issues (NEW)

28 Genetics, Genomics and Current Issues for Professional Nursing (NEW)

Section 4 Information Technology Challenges (NEW)

The Impact of Technology on Health Care (NEW)

29 Nursing: A Profession Evolving with the Use of Informatics and Technology (NEW)

30 Standardized Terminologies and Integrated Information Systems: Building Blocks for

Transforming Data into Nursing Knowledge

31 Nursing Informatics: Partnerships at the Crossroads of Practice and Research (NEW)

32 Sustaining a Focus Group Devoted to Standardized Language Development (NEW)

33 Why Health Information Technology Standards and Harmonization are Important (NEW)

34 Personal Health Records as a Tool for Improving the Delivery of Health Care (NEW)

35 Global Challenges of Electronic Records for Nursing (NEW)

Section 5 Health Care Systems and Practice

The Impact of Evolving Health Care Systems on Nursing

36 From a Medical Care System for a Few to a Comprehensive Health Care System for All

37 The Challenge: Participate in the Era of Politics - Choose an Ideology and Lead

38 Defining Health Disparities from Three Viewpoints: Reducing Inequality in Health Care
(NEW)

39 Magnet Designation: Creating New Synergies

40 The Research Imperative for the Nurse Executive (NEW)

41 Laying the Foundation for Evidence-Based Practice for Nurse Residents

42 Determining Staffing Needs Based on Patient Outcomes versus Nursing Interventions

(NEW)

43 Impact of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act

44 Trends in Long-Term Care (NEW)

Section 6 Health Care Organization and Finance

Identifying and Controlling Health Care Costs

45 Controlling Health Care Costs: Balancing Public and Private Solutions

46 Business Coalitions: Shaping Health Reform Through Technology and Science

47 Mergers and Acquisitions

48 The Cost of Home Health Care: Changes and Challenges

49 Drugs Are Too Cheap

Section 7 Professional Challenges, Collaboration, & Conflict

Challenges, Collaboration, and Conflict

50 Collaboration between Nurses and Physicians: The Need for a Broader View

51 Health Professions Education in Community-Based Settings: A Collaborative Journey

52 Overcoming Polarity in Nursing (NEW)

53 Expanding into the Twenty-First Century: Men in Nursing

54 Nursing Employment Issues: Increasing Unionization in Nursing

55 Managing Generational Issues in Nursing: Preserving the Future of the Profession (NEW)

Section 8 Cultural Inclusiveness

Diversity in Nursing: A Challenge for the United States

56 Should Nursing Be More Diversified?

57 Minority Representation in Nursing: Diversity, Cultural Competency and Racism-

The Challenge Persists

58 Bridging Cultures: Blacks and Nursing

59 Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders and Nursing: Narrowing the Health Disparities
Gap

60 Bridging Cultures: Hispanics/Latinos and Nursing

61 Bridging Cultures: American Indians and Nursing

Section 9 Ethics, Legal, and Social Issues

Ethical, Legal, and Social Concerns in a Changing Health Care World

62 Ethics of Health Care Reform: Should Health Care be Rationed?

63 The Nurse as Patient Advocate: Is There a Conflict of Interest?

64 Ethical Nursing Practice: It’s All About Relationship

65 Harassment and Discrimination Issues in Nursing

66 Health Care for the Poor and Underserved

67 Legal, ethical, and moral considerations in caring for individuals with diminished capacity

68 Nurses’ Role in Patients’ Advance Directives: Facilitation or Reduction of Patient

Autonomy?
69 Environmental Disasters: Nurse Preparedness for Radiation & Chemical Events (NEW)

70 Disaster Nursing and the American Red Cross (NEW)

71 The Greening of Health Care (NEW)

Section 10 Violence Prevention and Care: Nursing’s Role

Violence: The Expanding Role of Nursing in Prevention and Care

72 Child Maltreatment: Nursing Considerations

73 Nursing Care: Preventing Firearm Injuries

74 Group Interventions with African American Women Survivors of Intimate Partner

Violence

75 Nursing Care: Victims of Violence - Elder Mistreatment

76 Disaster Nursing during Terrorist Events

77 Nursing Practice in Emergency Management and Disaster Preparedness

78 Nursing in Wars

79 More Nurse Involvement Needed in Infectious Disease Disaster Preparedness

80 Compassion Fatigue in Nursing (NEW)

Section 11 International Nursing Considerations

Issues Abroad

81 The Global Nursing Shortage - An Issue of Social Justice (NEW)

82 All Hazards Preparedness: Advocating for Mothers and Babies (NEW)

83 Nursing At The World Health Organization: The (In)Visibility of Chief Nurses 1951-2009
(NEW)

84 Global Health Needs and Priorities in Developing Countries (NEW)

85 The Global Health Agenda: Are Nursing and Midwifery Responding? (NEW)