It takes profound knowledge, not usually taught in business schools, to create and maintain an environment where people feel they are working with friends who share a common dream of making patients and communitites their loyal fans - a place where: Employees say, "I love to work here." Managers say, "I love the people I work with." Caregivers say, "I love our patients." Patients and families say, "We love this hospital." Loyalty is an organization's best source of long-term strategic advantage. But unlike traditional service organizations, Disney does not provide a service. Neither does your hospital. They both provide an "experience". Disney is the premier example of this newly evolved economic category, and hospitals would do well to emulate the most vital things that earn Disney the love of their guests and employees. Like his popular seminars, in these pages Fred Lee addresses the vexing reality that most of our approaches to patient satisfaction will not lead to patient loyalty. He takes aim at service excellence initiatives, quality and performance improvement efforts, and patient satisfaction surveys, dispelling some of our most cherished beliefs about loyalty and leadership. This captivating book, filled with stories and examples, will leave its readers inspired with fresh insights and energized with hope. It needs to be in every hospital manager's library and required reading in every health care leadership curriculum. If you have wondered why so much of what is done in the name of service excellence in health care has not lived up to its promise, this book is for you.

    She has managed to achieve this in spite of being diagnosed as schizophrenic and given a "grave" prognosis—and suffering the effects of her illness throughout her life.Saks was only eight, and living an otherwise idyllic childhood in sunny 1960s Miami, when her first symptoms appeared in the form of obsessions and night terrors. But it was not until she reached Oxford University as a Marshall Scholar that her first full-blown episode, complete with voices in her head and terrifying suicidal fantasies, forced her into a psychiatric hospital.Saks would later attend Yale Law School where one night, during her first term, she had a breakdown that left her singing on the roof of the law school library at midnight. She was taken to the emergency room, force-fed antipsychotic medication, and tied hand-and-foot to the cold metal of a hospital bed. She spent the next five months in a psychiatric ward.So began Saks's long war with her own internal demons and the equally powerful forces of stigma. Today she is a chaired professor of law who researches and writes about the rights of the mentally ill. She is married to a wonderful man.In The Center Cannot Hold, Elyn Saks discusses frankly and movingly the paranoia, the inability to tell imaginary fears from real ones, and the voices in her head insisting she do terrible things, as well as the many obstacles she overcame to become the woman she is today. It is destined to become a classic in the genre.

    What? Is the bed already saturated with somebody else's damp before my patient comes to exhale in it his own damp? Has it not had a single chance to be aired? No, not one. It has been slept in every night."From the best known work of Florence Nightingale (1820–1910), the originator and founder of modern nursing, comes a collection of notes that played an important part in the much needed revolution in the field of nursing. For the first time it was brought to the attention of those caring for the sick that their responsibilities covered not only the administration of medicines and the application of poultices, but the proper use of fresh air, light, warmth, cleanliness, quiet, and the proper selection and administration of diet. Miss Nightingale is outspoken on these subjects as well as on other factors that she considers essential to good nursing. But, whatever her topic, her main concern and attention is always on the patient and his needs.One is impressed with the fact that the fundamental needs of the sick as observed by Miss Nightingale are amazingly similar today (even though they are generally taken for granted now) to what they were over 100 years ago when this book was written. For this reason, this little volume is as practical as it is interesting and entertaining. It will be an inspiration to the student nurse, refreshing and stimulating to the experienced nurse, and immensely helpful to anyone caring for the sick.

    Dairy products don't strengthen bones. Drugs may be dangerous.For years, doctors have been telling us to drink milk, eat dairy products, and take calcium pills to improve our bone vitality. The problem is, they're wrong. This groundbreaking guide uses the latest clinical studies and the most up-to-date medical information to help you strengthen your bones, reduce the risk of fractures, and prevent osteoporosis. You'll learn why there's no proof of calcium's effectiveness, despite what doctors say, and why a low-acid diet is the only effective way to prevent bone loss."This clear, convincing explanation of osteoporosis will change the way the world thinks about bone health. Lanou and Castleman prove beyond doubt that milk and dairy are the problem, not the solution." -Rory Freedman, coauthor of #1 New York Times best seller Skinny Bitch"The authors have tackled an almost intractable myth: that calcium is the one and only key to bone vitality. It isn't. Everyone who cares about preventing osteoporosis should read this book." -- Dr. T. Colin Campbell, author of The China Study

    An individual's Decision Tree begins with genomics, where $400 and a test tube of spit provides a peek at how your DNA influences your health. It taps self-monitoring and collaborative health tools, where iPhone applications and next-generation monitoring gadgets can help individuals successfully change their behavior, once and for all. And it turns to new screening techniques that detect diseases like cancer and diabetes far earlier and with far better prospects for our health. Full of thoughtful, groundbreaking reporting on the impact personalized medicine will have on the average patient, The Decision Tree will show you how to take advantage of this new frontier in health care.

    Marty Makary is co-developer of the life-saving checklist outlined in Atul Gawande's bestselling The Checklist Manifesto. As a busy surgeon who has worked in many of the best hospitals in the nation, he can testify to the amazing power of modern medicine to cure. But he's also been a witness to a medical culture that routinely leaves surgical sponges inside patients, amputates the wrong limbs, and overdoses children because of sloppy handwriting. Over the last ten years, neither error rates nor costs have come down, despite scientific progress and efforts to curb expenses. Why?To patients, the healthcare system is a black box. Doctors and hospitals are unaccountable, and the lack of transparency leaves both bad doctors and systemic flaws unchecked. Patients need to know more of what healthcare workers know, so they can make informed choices. Accountability in healthcare would expose dangerous doctors, reward good performance, and force positive change nationally, using the power of the free market. Unaccountable is a powerful, no-nonsense, non-partisan diagnosis for healing our hospitals and reforming our broken healthcare system.

    This book will incite controversy, wonderful debate, and dialogue among nurses and others. It is a must-read for every nurse educator and for every nurse that yearns for nursing to acknowledge and reach for the real difference that nursing can make in safety and quality in health care." --Beverly Malone, chief executive officer, National League for Nursing"This book describes specific steps that will enable a new system to improve both nursing formation and patient care. It provides a timely and essential element to health care reform." --David C. Leach, former executive director, Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education"The ideas about caregiving developed here make a profoundly philosophical and intellectually innovative contribution to medicine as well as all healing professions, and to anyone concerned with ethics. This groundbreaking work is both paradigm-shifting and delightful to read." --Jodi Halpern, author, From Detached Concern to Empathy: Humanizing Medical Practice"This book is a landmark work in professional education! It is a must-read for all practicing and aspiring nurse educators, administrators, policy makers, and, yes, nursing students." --Christine A. Tanner, senior editor, Journal of Nursing Education"This work has profound implications for nurse executives and frontline managers." --Eloise Balasco Cathcart, coordinator, Graduate Program in Nursing Administration, New York University