Leave No Nurse Behind: Nurses Working With Disabilities, edited by Donna C. Maheady, New York: iUniverse; 2006. 125 pages, $14.95 (paperback).
Open skies, endless horizons, and freedom to fly. The cover of Leave No Nurse Behind illustrates the teamwork of birds who instinctively realize that it takes less work to fly in formation than it does to fly alone, and when one bird tires another bird will temporarily take the lead. The authors understand this premise, stating that instead of discriminating against tired/disabled nurses, nursing should realize their abilities and utilize their skills to fill gaps created by the nursing shortage. With the increasing international nursing shortage, this book serves to describe an innovative approach to lessen the burden of the nursing profession by employing disabled nurses. The book provides accurate information regarding the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the American with disabilities Act of 1990. In addition, the book provides insight to how nurses with disabilities can relate to patients by sharing similar experiences. The intended audience includes nurses in all specialties, including education and leadership. The book will also be useful to the public because it provides information regarding disability rights and offers a foundation for hope to others with disabilities. Eleven real-life stories impart inspiration to anyone who may need motivation to continue nursing despite having a disability. Leave No Nurse Behind breathes new life into what nursing is about caring, compassion, and resiliency and offers a creative solution to partially address the nursing shortage.
The introduction and first chapter provides an accurate overview of the history of the passage of laws intended to protect the rights of individuals with disabilities in the workforce. Chapter 1 provides valid information regarding reasonable accommodations and accurately describes the application process and essential functions a disabled person may expect from employers. This information is valuable to any person with a disability.
Chapters 2 through 12 are personal stories of 11 nurses who struggled with their disability to become a nurse or return to the nursing profession. The stories are authored by individual nurses and illustrate the obstacles and successes each nurse endured during their journey to becoming employed as a nurse with a disability. Each story represents a different disability including multiple sclerosis, deafness, Guillain-Barre Syndrome, bipolar disorder, motor tremor and cancer, human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, and a child growing up with 1 hand. These chapters offer inspiring and heartwarming motivation but occasionally reveal the skepticism of nurse leaders and educators regarding nurses with disabilities.
Chapter 13 offers suggestions to nurses that focus on taking care of themselves for the future. Sections of this chapter offer realistic actions for nurses to maintain their physical, mental, and professional health. These suggestions provide strength to the book because they remind nurses that they must first care for themselves before they can effectively care for others.
The book has 3 appendices and a resource section that is beneficial for people with disabilities. Appendix A provides a sample accommodation request letter. Appendix B provides helpful information regarding disclosure of a psychiatric disability to employers. Lastly, Appendix C offers suggestions for dealing with difficult employers/supervisors. The resource section provides numerous useful resources and Web sites for nurses with disabilities, including national organizations, support groups, and adaptive equipment.
This book serves as a compact valuable resource for disabled nurses who wish to continue practicing nursing. Personal experiences of the nurses provide value to the book because they are inspiring and motivational. Overall, the book is small, easy to read, and offers inspiration to disabled nurses, whose hiring could be an innovative approach to address the international nursing shortage.
-Paula A. Stangeland, BSN, RN, CRRN
Clinical Instructor, The University of Texas Medical Branch, School of Nursing Simulation Lab, Galveston, Texas