Nurse Education in Practice 10 (2010) e14
Contents lists available at ScienceDirect
Nurse Education in Practice
journal homepage: www.elsevier .com/nepr
Book Reviews
The Nurse’s Etiquette Advantage: How Professional Etiquette CanAdvance Your Nursing Career, Pagana, Kathleen D.
Do you mind your manners in personal, professional and busi-ness life situations or do you reserve your manners for specialoccasions? Do you know how to behave and interact at homeand professionally in the workplace? Do you know how to ap-proach and handle challenging situations appropriately? Do youknow what to expect from others? How do you know whetheryou have succeeded in your approach? How can you maximizeyour potential to progress your nursing career?
Etiquette issues face each of us everyday. Etiquette has to dowith having good manners and being socially adept. It is aboutknowing the rules that govern behaviour and how to apply themin a socially acceptable way without making other people in soci-ety feel uncomfortable. Professional etiquette is synonymouswith the world of nursing where first impressions matter andcount.
Pagana’s 224 page paper back book ‘The Nurse’s EtiquetteAdvantage: How Professional Etiquette Can Advance your NursingCareer’ is a fun filled informative text which draws the reader intothe essential ingredients of the etiquette world. The book is uniqueas it offers practical advice and value to a conventional uninterest-ing subject.
Keeping abreast of developments in etiquette, the book is filledwith guidance on how to behave on three levels: personal, profes-sional and interpersonal. An introductory chapter signposts theimportance of etiquette for nurses and customizes business eti-quette knowledge to the professional nursing world with goodeffect.
doi:10.1016/j.nepr.2009.02.004
Key engaging text features are outlined in each chapter whichencourage active reader participation: quizzes, do you know ques-tions, tips, faux pas, good idea boxes fill the pages in a multiplicityof formats. Tables and figures are utilized to itemize concreteinformation presented. Cultural items, frequently asked questionsand take away tips effortlessly help the reader to engage withthe essential necessities of comportment, decorum and proprietywhich makes the reader question previously held assumptions thatwere known to be true. The purpose of the book is twofold: topresent etiquette rules relative to advancing your nursing careerwhilst learning and recollecting rules in a fun way.
Ten chapters assist the reader to navigate through the world ofintroductions, conversations and networking, professional pres-ence, interviewing preparation and performance, email, telephoneand fax etiquette, managing corporate events, successful diningetiquette in business and social circles, writing thank you notesand business letters, business travel and global etiquette. Notablequotations are used to portray a message and lesson in each chap-ter. A removable top 10 etiquette tip card for nurses is included asa quick reference source.
Professional etiquette is everyone’s business. The book is indis-pensable, as it represents a confidence ticket which will fostercredible, polished, successful relations and help nurses to connectwith the people it proposes to serve with discernment and sophis-tication. It will help you survive the nursing world so you do notget left behind.
Jacqueline WhelanTrinity College Dublin, Ireland
E-mail address: [email protected]
