Thóra B. Hafsteinsdóttir – författare

This book explores the leading role played by nursing science in the European Nordic countries. Recognized leaders in nursing research from Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden, reflect on the leadership of nurses, the societal developments and the state of nursing science in their country, and the successes and remaining challenges nurses are facing. The book highlights representative leadership projects focusing on e.g. evidenced-based clinical practice, education and research that have impacted patient and healthcare outcomes in each country.

The book shows how nursing, as a scientific discipline, has been developing rapidly in these five Nordic countries. They have more nurses per capita than other countries (OECD 2016) and healthcare is provided to all citizens. Moreover, nursing qualification in the Nordic countries was based on university education early on, and there are more professors of nursing than in other countries. Accordingly, this book on Leadership innursing within the Nordic countries shares essential and pioneering expertise that will benefit nurses and nurse scientists around the globe.

The book explores how mentoring, theoretical background of mentoring and how mentoring is used by nurses in all arenas where they work in health care, education, research, policy, politics, and academia in supporting nurses with their professional and career development. Over 300 mentors and mentees, from a wide range of countries across all continents, share their stories of mentoring reflecting on their development in leadership, clinical practice, education, research and politics. The book describes various types of mentoring including more traditional types of mentoring as well as virtual, online and peer mentoring. During the mentorship trajectories the nurses address an inclusive collection of issues that they are faced with and share supporting strategies. The book highlights the importance of mentoring for nurses to support their personal, and professional leadership development. Also, it emphasizes the importance of mentoring for when nurses engaged in variety of projects that could entail or encompass evidence-based clinical practice, development within education, research in the clinical arena, policy formation, political affairs, or cultural inclusion that present significant impact in patient care and healthcare outcomes within and across countries. With The Future of Nursing 2020-2030: Charting a Path to Achieve Health Equity report from the National Academies of Sciences, published in 2021, the role of nursing will become ever more dynamic and therefore the profession of nursing must be visible in improving and securing the future for patients, families, and communities across the globe. Mentoring practices to build the profession’s leaders are forever essential, acute, and imperative.

This book shows how mentoring can support nurses in further developing nursing as a profession and scientific discipline across countries to support clinical application of evidence based practice, and nursing education and research dissemination. Accordingly, this book shares essential, diverse and pioneering expertise through wide range of narrative stories that will benefit nurses at all years of experience, from early career nurses, emerging leaders, nurse educators, leaders, policy makers and nurse scientists around the globe. The nursing profession must magnify its position in health care and nurses need to proliferate their contributions throughout the globe. They can accomplish that through mentoring and “growing and nurturing other nurses” to advance and thrive in today’s world.