Foreword

This work is unusual, and that is what drew me into it. When I was approached by the author—whom I had a prior professional relationship with—to provide collaboration for a small piece of this work, I was intrigued by the possibility of learning in such a new and unusual way. I agreed to work with her for the sheer joy of being at the beginning of a great thing.

The 30 years that I have spent in the health-care field have all involved continuing education and ongoing learning. From learning how to function at the bedside to creating materials for new learning by others, each year has included some form of education. These years have been spent with my head down in textbooks that were created in the same mold as all of the textbooks that I have ever studied. This period of education has stretched from the very early 1960s to the present day. Never have I encountered a textbook that has engaged me in the way that this book has.

As we have learned to learn through repetition and ongoing review, we have often forgotten that, in health care, the need is to engage with the person, the patient, the client. The need to be reminded of this is paramount throughout the health-care field. The manner in which the material is presented in this book in no way follows the current prescribed educational mold. It breaks all of the rules, and it engages the learner in a way that is focused on the person. The author continually reaffirms the idea that health care is not about a different vocabulary but rather about people.

The chapters of this book open up the lives of ordinary people to the learners in a way that will draw the learners in and help them to embrace the very idea of learning. The book is engaging and honest while at the same time being factual and correct. Most of all, it is totally unique in its approach. As an educator, manager, and nurse, I believe that this method of teaching and learning for the field of health care is the beginning of a great movement forward.