Speak Your Truth: Proven Strategies for Effective Nurse-Physician Communication - Softcover

Speak Your Truth: Proven Strategies for Effective Nurse-Physician Communication
Kathleen Bartholomew, RN, MN

The #1 best-selling book on nursing empowerment is newly expanded and better than ever

“This book is required reading for anyone committed to working with nurses and the nursing profession toward forging new collaborative and supportive relationships both within and between nurses, physicians, and other healthcare professionals, so that it can gain the stature and respect that will result in rebuilding the ranks of those willing and able to contribute to the nursing profession in a meaningful and contemporary manner.”
—Jon Burroughs, MD, MBA, CMSL

A witty and entertaining book that delivers a mission-critical message.
This best-selling book by Kathleen Bartholomew, RN, MN, delivers effective strategies for improving nurse-physician relationships. Bartholomew uses engaging case scenarios, critical-thinking activities, and real-world tips to help nurses understand and communicate with physicians.

Don’t miss what Kathleen has to say in this expanded edition of Speak Your Truth. She now provides strategies for both nursing and non-nursing leadership to create and sustain a healthy work environment.

This book helps you:

• Ensure patient safety through improved collegiality between physicians and nurses
• Increase recruitment and retention by creating a healthy work environment
• Empower nurses to improve communication by confidently interacting with disruptive physicians
• Increase productivity through creating a culture of accountability

With new research highlighting the latest strategies for improving communication, the expanded version now includes:

• A chapter for senior leadership containing organization strategies to improve communication and ways to intervene with disruptive physicians
• Fresh insight for leaders on establishing expectations with physicians, nurses, and other staff
• New strategies to promote zero tolerance for bad behaviors
• More ways to promote a collegial workplace

"Unprecedented, brilliant, and right on target! Kathleen Bartholomew has dared to speak the truth about one of the greatest threats we face in patient safety: Dysfunctional physician-nurse communication and relationships."
—John J. Nance, JD, Founding Member of the National Patient Safety Foundation

"Kathleen Bartholomew, a gifted nurse and teacher, explores many of the dysfunctional dynamics destroying the morale of healthcare professionals, and she does it with a fresh, deadly serious voice interspersed with delightful humor that also inspires change. This is a must read for physicians, nurses, or anyone trapped in a traditionally subservient role, regardless of whether that role is work-related or not."
—Allen R. Wyler, MD, neurosurgeon, author of Deadly Errors, a novel about medical errors

"Kathleen uses the vehicle of story, liberally seasoned with humor, to present imaginative and creative approaches to age-old problems with communications between nurses and doctors."
—Genevieve Bartol, RN, EdD, AHN-C(P), Professor Emeritus, University of North Carolina, Greensboro

"This book is a 'must read' for all those nurses who want to enhance communication with physicians to create healthy, productive collegial relationships and improve patient care. Ms. Bartholomew analyzes and interprets all too familiar personal stories using a backdrop of theory to help us understand why we find ourselves in distressing interactions with physicians and how we can take action to initiate a process of healing."
—Linda J. Westbrook, RN, PhD, Assistant Professor, Nurs

Kathleen Bartholomew, RN, MN, managed a 57-bed orthopedic and spine unit in a tertiary hospital in Seattle for six years. Recognizing that the culture of an institution is critical to patient safety, she speaks about the image and future of nursing, creating healthy work environments, communication, nurse-to-nurse hostility, and improving physician-nurse relationships. Bartholomew is the author of several HCPro books, includingEnding Nurse-to-Nurse Hostility: Why Nurses Eat Their Young and Each Other,Stressed Out About Communication Skills, and is co-author of The Image of Nursing: Perspectives on Shaping, Elevating, and Empowering the Nursing Profession.

As a registered nurse and counselor, Bartholomew uses story to bring to light the challenges and issues facing nurses today. Her strength is her ability to link the academic world with the practical reality of the hospital. Her objective is to serve as a much-needed voice for nursing today.