A nurse's work is multifaceted, medically complex, technically precise, and physically demanding. But nursing-the act of caring-is also social, emotional, impactful, and personal. Because nursing education programs prioritize the importance of the technical and physical aspects of nursing, that is what they teach. This leaves practicing nurses poorly equipped to understand the science of caring and unprepared for the constant stream of emotional and psychological stressors that come with this profoundly important work. The unintended consequences of this omission include burnout, toxic work environments, and exodus from the profession.
In this highly anticipated and particularly timely third edition of Reflective Practice, authors Sara Horton-Deutsch and Gwen Sherwood invite readers to reflect, recalibrate, reimagine, rethink, and reframe the work of nursing care and their various roles and relationships within it. This book focuses first on the individual, then practice settings, and finally systems and communities while providing supporting theoretical frameworks, practical applications, and opportunities for personal and shared reflection along the way. Reflective Practice guides nurses to emotional and psychological fulfillment in all aspects of care.
Horton-Deutsch, Sara: - SARA HORTON-DEUTSCH, PhD, RN, FAAN, ANEF, SGAHN, is a Caritas Coach & Leader, Professor, and Director of the University of San Francisco/Kaiser Permanente Partnership at the University of San Francisco School of Nursing and Health Professions. In this role she coordinates an RN-MSN specialty track for nurse leaders working at one of the 21 Kaiser Permanente hospitals in the Bay Area and collaborates with the Kaiser Permanente Scholars Academy to ensure relevant and quality continuing education programming groundedin Unitary Caring Science. She is also a Faculty Associate at the Watson Caring Science Institute, where she serves as the Co-Director of the Caritas Leadership Program, designed to engage participants in deep study and personal mastery of Caritas leadership, guided by Watson's Caring Science literacy and the 10 Caritas Processes.Her work in reflective practice has been published in three co-edited books with Gwen Sherwood: Reflective Practice: Transforming Education and Improving Outcomes (2012 & 2017) and Reflective Organizations: On the Front Lines of QSEN and Reflective Practice Implementation (2015). The second was recognized as an AJN Book of the Year. Clinical nurses and academic programs around the world use the scholarly contributions foundin these books to support deep learning-learning that leads to intentional, effective, and thoughtful action. It was through the iterative process of reflection that Horton-Deutsch deepened her own work in reflective practice, resulting in the integration of Caring Science. Like reflective practice, Caring Science calls healthcare professions to action-sacred actions that honor all living things-to health, healing, and wholeness.In 2022 she co-edited Visionary Leadership in Healthcare: Excellence in Practice, Policy, and Ethics with Holly Wei, which received a first-place AJN Book of the Year Award.The textbook is directed towards those who believe centering care and compassion as the foundation for leadership is a worthy endeavor. It invites readers to explore leadership from a holistic perspective, including the knowledge and skills needed but also the social and emotional literacy required. It guides readers on how to be more self-aware, present, engaged, and connected with others to co-create new ways of being and doing our work together.She continues to influence the scholarship and teaching-learning mindset of nurse educators around the world through her scholarly publications; international, national, and regional presentations; leadership in Caring Science; and service to the profession. She has served as a Research Fellow at the University of South Africa since 2016. In 2022, she was recognized as a Scholar in the Global Academy of Holistic Nursing. Horton-Deutsch currently serves on the board of directors of Sigma.
Sherwood, Gwen: - GWEN D. SHERWOOD, PhD, RN, FAAN, ANEF, has a distinguished record in advancing nursing education locally and globally. She is Professor Emeritus at the University of North Carolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill School of Nursing. She is an expert in patient safety, teamwork, and interprofessional education, and her work focuses on transforming healthcare environments by expanding the relational capacity of healthcare providers. Her work has examined patient satisfaction with pain management outcomes, the spiritual dimensions of care, and teamwork as a variable in patient safety spanning education and practice.Sherwood was a pioneer in integrating quality and safety in health professions education.She was co-investigator for the award-winning Quality and Safety Education for Nurses (QSEN) project to transform education and practice to prepare nurses to work in and lead quality and safety in redesigned healthcare systems. Funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation from 2005-2012, the QSEN Steering Team received the Sigma Theta Tau International Nursing Media Award, and its website (www.QSEN.org) received the Information Technology Award.Sherwood has been engaged in multiple interprofessional projects including co- investigator for the UNC-Chapel Hill and Duke University Interprofessional Patient Safety Education Collaborative, patient safety leader at the University of Illinois at Chicago School of Medicine and the Academy for Emerging Leaders in Patient Safety (formerly the Telluride Project), and adjunct faculty in the Master of Science in Patient Safety Leadership program and now the MedStar Patient Safety Institute.Her professional service includes the Research Committee of the National Patient Safety Foundation, the Technical Expert Panel of TeamSTEPPS, the QSEN Advisory Board, past President of the International Association for Human Caring, faculty and mentor in the Sigma Nurse Faculty Leadership Academy, and advisor for the Technical Expert Panel for the Patient Centered Care AHRQ Task Order at MedStar Health.Sherwood's distinguished service to Sigma includes Distinguished Lecturer, Virginia Henderson Fellow, Chair of the global task force for the Scholarship of Reflective Practice position paper, and Vice President of the board of directors. She chaired the Research Scholarship Advisory Council and speaks frequently for chapters around the world.Her hospital research team received the 2001 Regional Research Utilization Award for implementing relationship-centered care. ABOUT THE AUTHORSHer work bridges US and global organizations to expand nursing undergraduate and graduate education capacity to serve developing regions. Formerly Executive Associate Dean at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston's School of Nursing, shebridged academia and practice through a joint appointment as Co-Director of the Center for Professional Excellence at The Methodist Hospital. She led numerous educational outreach programs in developing areas both on the Texas-Mexico border and around the world.A global ambassador for nursing, she has worked with nurse educators in Kazakhstan, Sakhalin, Macau, Thailand, Taiwan, and Kenya and helped lead the nursing education renaissance in China. Widely published, she is co-editor of three other books: International Textbook of Reflective Practice in Nursing, Quality and Safety in Nursing: A Competency Approach to Improve Outcomes (AJN Book of the Year), and Reflective Organizations: On the Front Lines of QSEN and Reflective Practice Implementation (second place AJN Book of the Year). Among many honors, she was awarded Outstanding Alumnus at Georgia Baptist College of Nursing and the University of Texas Austin in addition to the Special Award for International Interprofessional Education from the Prince Madhidol Conference, Sigma's Mary Tolle Wright Leadership Award, an Honorary Doctorate from Jonkoping University, and Fellowship Ad Eundem from the Royal College of Surgeons Ireland.
