Although written specifically for nursing faculty, many of the chapters could serve as required or supplementary reading for basic or advanced nursing courses. The book is based on a series of lessons prepared for a comprehensive course on managed care, a combined effort of the Schools of Nursing of Columbia University and Vanderbilt University, as part of a grant awarded by the private Teagle Foundation. Well-published and active in nursing administration throughout her career, Barbara Stevens Barnum retired as Professor of the Columbia School of Nursing in New York City and as Editor of Nursing Leadership Forum in 1998. This book provides material in outline form in eight chapters, supplemented by seven guides. Originally created for doctoral students as summary handouts, it has been put into book format for use in other settings.
Content is appropriate for undergraduate and masters level nursing students and practicing nurses.
In condensed format, the book addresses the reasons why nurses need to be involved in research, the complexity of the research question, methodological aspects of planning and conducting research, principles of measurement and the process for developing a quantitative measure with alternate forms. Intended as a quick reference guide covering the essentials, readers are encouraged to delve into the literature for more complete information as needed. The Center is supported by the W. K. Kellogg Foundation's initiative for Community Partnerships for Health Professions Education. The book is intended to serve as a guide for nurse educators in establishing linkages with communities through community partnerships. In the early nineties, the faculty of the College of Nursing developed extensive educational experiences in community settings to broaden their student's clinical experience from traditional inpatient settings to community locales.