Quality Work Environments for Nurse and Patient Safety edited by Linda McGillis Hall. Boston: Jones and Bartlett, 2005. 273 pages, soft cover, $59.95.

At the 2005 Nursing Administration Research Conference, Karlene Kerfoot stated that "The practice of leadership/management without the foundation of research creates a huge void in the effective practice of leaders in healthcare."1^(p373)

She went on to note that having knowledge of research in all the areas that influence the outcomes of patient care, in addition to the well-being of staff, is one of the critical challenges for leaders.

A major aspect of this challenge is finding and synthesizing the research that is currently in existence. The Institute of Medicine's (IOM's) publication, Keeping Patients Safe: Transforming the Work Environment of Nurses,2 provides such a synthesis along with recommendations to foster positive outcomes. The work of McGillis Hall and her colleagues is another excellent resource for the busy nurse manager that allows a review of empirical and conceptual publications on a variety of areas that affect the work environment.

Quality Work Environments for Nurse and Patient Safety is the result of a grant that was funded by the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long Term Care. The purpose of the project was to complete a critical analysis of the existing literature on indicators that had an impact on outcomes and that could be measured in nurses' work environment. Literature applicable to short-term care, long-term care, and home care was analyzed in an extensive review of existing databases, many of which are not the usual sources for such reviews.

Ten conceptual areas are critically examined in the book: staffing; teamwork and the multidisciplinary team; climate and culture; span of control; workload and productivity; autonomy and decision-making; professional development opportunities; leadership; overtime; and absenteeism. Unlike the IOM report that is organized by the 4 components of management practices, workforce capability, work processes, and organizational culture, Quality Work Environments is organized by each separate concept.

Each chapter of the book reviews a concept in at least 8 areas: (1) an introduction to the concept; (2) the theoretical underpinnings for the concept; (3) the factors influencing the concept; (4) the links of the concept to outcomes; (5) issues in the assessment of the concept; (6) the evidence concerning approaches to measurement; (7) the existing measures of the concept; and (8) implications and future directions. References are included at the end of each chapter for ease of use. In addition, where applicable, some chapters include a section on a review of conceptual definitions, which for concepts such as climate and culture is extremely helpful. Basically, the organization of the book is a benefit for the reader who wants a complete and relatively quick review of a single included concept.

McGillis Hall makes 2 points in the conclusion of the book. First, she notes that the findings of their literature review are totally consistent with the earlier IOM report, Keeping Patients Safe: Transforming the Work Environment. Second, she points out that most of the research is focused on staffing and its relationship to outcomes. She, along with many others, encourages future work on aspects of the nursing work environment that can potentially influence patient and staff outcomes.

This book provides an excellent reference on the impact of the included concepts on both patient and staff outcomes. Like all compendiums, it is, of course, more dated than other published research, but it is a "must-have" resource for literature on the concepts prior to 2005.

Joyce A. Verran, PhD, RN

Guest Reviewer Professor Emeritus College of Nursing, University of Arizona, Tucson Visiting Professor School of Nursing University of Colorado Health Sciences Center

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