Includes bibliographical references and index.

Role transitions -- Personal management: time and self-care strategies -- Mentorship and preceptorship -- Employment considerations : opportunities, resumes, and interviewing -- NCLEX-RN(r) examination and the new graduate -- Historical perspectives : influences on the present -- Nursing education -- Nursing theory -- Image of nursing : influences of the present -- Challenges of nursing management and leadership -- Building nursing management skills -- Effective communication and team building -- Conflict management -- Delegation in the clinical setting -- The health care organization and patterns of nursing care delivery -- Economics of the health care delivery system -- Political action in nursing -- Collective bargaining : traditional (union) and nontraditional approaches -- Ethical issues -- Legal issues -- Cultural and spiritual awareness -- Quality patient care -- Nursing informatics -- Using nursing research in practice -- Workplace issues -- Emergency preparedness.