Foreword - Reta Creegan

There has never been a greater need for nurse managers at an operational level to be skilled in the technical aspects of management. Nurse managers are under increasing pressure from governments, industrial organisations, staff, and consumers of health services for greater accountability in all aspects of the nurse-management role. Taken together, these pressures create a complex management environment in which key stakeholders often have competing and conflicting priorities.

The sociopolitical environment for managers is always changing, but the fundamental principles of management have remained comparatively constant over time. Management is about managing people, and effective nurse managers need to understand both the personal context and the wider environment in which they function. A collaborative communication style based on professional respect is the first step in building a spirit of collegiality. Such a spirit of collegiality is likely to be enhanced by participative staff scheduling, fair and equitable access to learning and development, the sharing of information, performance management based on agreed objective measures, the setting of workload targets, workload distribution, the monitoring and evaluation of throughput against benchmarks, and the sharing of results and successes with staff.

Nurse Managers: A Guide to Practice is a timely and informative guide for nurse managers and those who aspire to be managers in how to manage the many situations that nurse managers are likely to encounter. A diverse range of experts with a wealth of experience brings a richness to the text. Their differing backgrounds and experience in management will be of benefit to all readers who are contemplating a career in nurse management.