No matter how you look at it, "the business of nursing remains patient care," writes Marjorie Beyers in her preface to The Business of Nursing, a recent book from American Hospital Publishing. Still, in the book with potential authors and reviewers, the idea of putting the word "business" in front of "nursing" raised a few eyebrows, says Beyers, executive director of the American Association of Nurse Executives. "In corporate thinking, any service of value has a price. Although certainly nurse executives agree that nursing care is a valued human science, there is lively debate about whether it should have a price." To that end, the book's six essays reflect the complexity of changes in health care, the effects on patients and their families, and the challenges facing nursing executives today. The chapter excerpted here--"Seizing Opportunities in the New Health Care Delivery System, " by consultant and former nursing executive Richard Brock--lays a foundation for changing both nursing practice and attitudes. Brock also offers advice for working with staff nurses to guide them through the changes ahead.
美国护士行政管理人员协会执行董事玛乔丽·拜尔斯在其为《护理行业》所写的前言中写道，无论你如何看待，“护理行业的核心仍是患者护理”。《护理行业》是美国医院出版公司近期出版的一本书。不过，拜尔斯表示，在与潜在作者和审稿人的交流中，在“护理”一词前加上“行业”这个词的想法还是引起了一些人的惊讶。“在企业思维中，任何有价值的服务都有价格。虽然护士行政管理人员当然认同护理是一门有价值的人文科学，但对于它是否应该有价格，仍存在激烈的争论。”为此，这本书的六篇文章反映了医疗保健变革的复杂性、对患者及其家庭的影响，以及当今护理行政管理人员所面临的挑战。这里节选的章节——顾问兼前护理行政管理人员理查德·布罗克所写的《在新的医疗保健提供系统中抓住机遇》——为改变护理实践和态度奠定了基础。布罗克还提供了与一线护士合作的建议，以指导他们应对未来的变革。
